Tapio, I think 'bean counters' or accountants make a living answering this sort of question. Statistics on component sales and the like are probably available from the manufacturers in their stock holders reports... there may also be info available from organizations that support manufacturing and distribution and assembly. In fact you may find some info available from the IPC... The big problem I find with your question is its too general. There are many factors that affect 'cost' which could be rolled into a study of 'which is cheaper'. The retail purchase price of a component of either type is not the only factor to consider. Machine handling, layout 'real estate' which affects the cost of the board, stocking space, special requirements for board surface finishes, brokers fees, international taxes and tariffs, component development costs, materials costs... I'm sure there are probably other aspects that don't come to mind at the moment. Generally, surface mount components are more cost effective to use for most applications. The larger volume demand for manufacturing and ready availability through distribution of these parts makes their retail cost lower. Also their wide use drives the sale of pick and place assembly machines or contractors that have them and the capacity to do the assembly of surface mount parts. Through hole components and the machines to automate their assembly used to be the most common parts and methods back in the 1980's. Most electronics manufacturers have transitioned to smaller more compact electronic assemblies with surface mount components. They are now the most common parts available, hence the most cost effective to use. That does not mean that through hole technology does not have a place in electronic design. There are clearly conditions under which surface mount components are not a good choice. Extreme vibration, extremes in hot or cold environments, high reliability applications, all require through hole parts to survive... The leaded brothers of our surface mount parts have a more robust ability to withstand abuse. So you will find them in military applications and in high-rel products or aerospace applications often. They are much cheaper than having to replace a surface mount version over and over due to failures, which could cause very expensive damage if they happen at the wrong moment in time... Cheaper is a relative term... you really have to take into account many factors and decide, is it cheaper how and for whom? At any rate, Good luck with the research project. I hope the thesis goes well. :) Bill Brooks PCB Design Engineer , C.I.D., C.I.I. Tel: (760)597-1500 Ext 3772 Fax: (760)597-1510 -----Original Message----- From: Tapio Karinsalo [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Thursday, April 01, 2004 12:52 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [DC] How much cheaped is SMT than THT? [mx] Hi, I am making my degree thesis and I am trying to find answer to question: How much cheaper is to use SMT component than THT component to do same electronic product? I know that there are many factors that impact to costs but do you guys know is there any white papers or case studies about that thing? Sorry my bad English but hope you understand my question.. Best regards Tapio Karinsalo Tampere University of Technology Finland ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- DesignerCouncil Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8d To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF DesignerCouncil. To set a vacation stop for delivery of DesignerCouncil send: SET DesignerCouncil NOMAIL Search previous postings at: www.ipc.org > On-Line Resources & Databases > E-mail Archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5315 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DesignerCouncil Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8d To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF DesignerCouncil. To set a vacation stop for delivery of DesignerCouncil send: SET DesignerCouncil NOMAIL Search previous postings at: www.ipc.org > On-Line Resources & Databases > E-mail Archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5315 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------