Shinko of Nagano and Johnson Matthey Electronics of Minneapolis, Minnesota are selling a rival style of package that replaces pins with balls of metal.

FORBES: It's all in the packaging

Shinko of Nagano and Minneapolis, Minn.

FORBES: It's all in the packaging

Instead of competing head-on with Shinko and Johnson Matthey, Endoh is trying to leapfrog them by developing packages precise enough to match up with tiny 0.25-micron and smaller circuits -- just the sizes Intel will be working in from now on.

FORBES: It's all in the packaging

For the first quarter-century of the microprocessor's life, most integrated-circuit packages were fairly predictable hunks of ceramics, bought largely from one of four Japanese firms: Kyocera (its name is a combination of the words Kyoto and ceramics), NGK Spark Plug, Shinko Electronic Industries and Sumitomo Metal Electronics Devices.

FORBES: It's all in the packaging

For the first quarter-century of the microprocessor's life, most integrated-circuit packages were fairly predictable hunks of ceramics, largely bought from one of four Japanese firms: Kyocera (its name is a combination of the words Kyoto and ceramics), NGK Spark Plug, Shinko Electronic Industries and Sumitomo Metal Electronics Devices.

FORBES: It's all in the packaging