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I am doing a development board for a IC with 36 WLCSP package. My PCB layout has 16 via over pads, minimum 0.1mm drill holes, 4-layers. I need to fabricate my PCB. And I could not find a exact pricing for PCBs in the required design quality. I sent sample Gerber file for some PCB manufacturers. And they replied with extreme high prices and I can't afford their pricing (eg: 200$ for 10 boards with 2.5cm * 2.5cm). And most of manufactures are not willing to share their pricing strategy to optimize my design.

My target is to deliver my demo board for the lowest price (to make it lower than 10$, while component cost around 6.5$) . So I need to keep the PCB cost lower than 2$ with the minimum area of 2cm * 2cm.
  • Could I achieve that much lower PCB cost?
  • what are the possible PCB fabricators with lower cost with required technology?
  • What would be the unit PCB cost if fabricate at least 500 boards?
  • Feasibility of my project to make it under 10$?

Thank you

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    \$\begingroup\$ The tooling fees are probably very high. $200 for 10 boards is not so bad. Try asking for quotes with larger quantities and see what happens. \$\endgroup\$
    – alex.forencich
    Commented May 26, 2015 at 0:55
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    \$\begingroup\$ I expect that your 0.1 mm drill holes would be a problem - I think that is microvia territory, and too small to be done with a normal drill. The price should drop significantly if you can use the board shop's minimum drill size. \$\endgroup\$
    – Peter Bennett
    Commented May 26, 2015 at 1:16
  • \$\begingroup\$ I agree with Peter, 8 mil (~0.2 mm) is a typical minimum size for mechanically drilled vias. And even this might be premium priced compared to a slightly larger size (10-12 mils, maybe 0.25 mm). \$\endgroup\$
    – The Photon
    Commented May 26, 2015 at 2:17
  • \$\begingroup\$ Expecting high-end board houses to go much below ~$500 for any quantity is probably a bit of a lost cause. \$\endgroup\$
    – Connor Wolf
    Commented May 26, 2015 at 3:05
  • \$\begingroup\$ Your are probably suffering from one or more of layer count, short turn time, low quantity, and challenging design rules. See if you can't design a more easily manufactured version. \$\endgroup\$
    – Chris Stratton
    Commented May 26, 2015 at 4:30

2 Answers 2

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You can develop via on pad as well the prototyping cost for 10 units will be higher but when you are going for 500 units and more than that is for sure that your price will be near above 2$ excluding shipping.

As per your specification the 10 Unit 15 days delivery will cost you 12$ / Unit + Shipping.

Minimum Drill hole should be 6 mill = 0.2 mm

500 Units Production = 1$ + Shipping.

Yes it is feasable to make your project under 10$.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Can you suggest some low cost manufacturers? \$\endgroup\$
    – user3478108
    Commented May 26, 2015 at 14:59
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As others have said, the drill size is what is killing you, but also the via-in-pad.

Remove those two things, the price will plummet; your design probably doesn't need them at all.

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