In US, due to cost. Japanese fully embraced SMT in mid eighties, and were already mass manufacturing products with ~100 pin QFP chips https://www.shmj.or.jp/eng

In US, due to cost. Japanese fully embraced SMT in mid eighties, and were already mass manufacturing products with ~100 pin QFP chips https://www.shmj.or.jp/english/packaging/pac80s.html https://www.shmj.or.jp/english/packaging/pac80s.html. I cant find it now, but I remember in one of Asianometry videos a history of Japanese manufacturer traveling to Texas and discovering he can offer American clients his lead frames at 1/10 domestic cost and still make a killing.