Historically, choosing a design avoiding 0402 and finer pitch components was advantageous for mass production cost savings. The yields were improved and accuracy requirements for pick and place machines were reduced. This allowed vendors to choose from a larger number of manufacturing facilities and identify cost saving opportunities.

Does that kind of thinking still hold any water given that 0402s and BGAs have been popular for a long time? Are there still factories that specialize in low cost larger pitch manufacturing?

Just to be clear, I'm only talking about production volumes in the millions.