From a statistical point of view, the PCB industry is currently very prosperous, but in fact it encounters more difficulties. On the one hand, the transfer of industries in developed countries has created prosperity and improved levels; on the other hand, after reaching the apex of the stage, the problems brought about by development appear, restricting the space for progress, and capital such as labor, water, electricity, and the environment is no longer cheap.

Electronic products have entered the era of meager profit, and price wars have changed the supply chain. Among Asian countries, China has both cost and market advantages.

The PCB industry is gradually shifting to China due to cost and downstream industry transfer.

What is the current state of China’s PCB industry

Analysis of China’s growth trends: The demand for downstream products promotes the development of the industry itself, and the industry moves from developed countries to China. However, the Chinese government has restricted 4 due to environmental protection considerations. Low-end products below the level, encourage high-end products such as HDI, these factors work together to promote the development of PCB to high-end products.

(1) China PCB production value analysis

The world electronic circuit industry experienced a full recovery in 2003 after a recession from 2000 to 2002. The world's total PCB output value in 2002 was 31.6 billion US dollars, and in 2003 it was 34.5 billion US dollars, an increase of 9.18% year-on-year, of which flexible boards and rigid-flex boards accounted for 15%. This momentum was basically maintained in 2004. Industry analysts believe that the development of electronic circuits throughout the world, especially the development of Asia and China, has ushered in a new peak, and this peak will continue until 2010.

According to Prismark statistics and forecasts, the global output value of printed circuit board products will increase from approximately US$42 billion to approximately US$53.7 billion during 2006~2010, with an average compound annual growth rate of approximately Is 6.3%.

Industry transfer has made China's PCB industry a big country, and the most important driving force comes from two aspects, cost and application industrial chain.

In terms of cost advantages, China has huge advantages in labor, land, water and electricity, resources, and policies. Although the main raw materials still need to be imported, they replace imported products. Gradually increase.

The downstream industries are booming in China, and the global manufacturing of complete machines has shifted to China, providing a huge market demand space. It is the main supporting product of various electronic products. The industrial chain involves all aspects of electronic products. Whether it is consumer home appliances and industrial complete machines, such as computers, communication equipment, automobiles, and the defense industry, PCBs are inseparable.

China has become the region with the strongest development momentum due to the concentration of downstream industries and the relatively low cost of labor and land. my country surpassed the United States for the first time in 2003 and became the world's second largest PCB producer. The proportion of output value increased from 8.54% in 2000 to 15.30%, nearly doubled. In 2006, China has replaced Japan as the world's largest PCB production base, far higher than the growth rate of the global industry. From 2000 to 2006, the annual growth rate of the mainland's PCB market reached an average of 20%, far exceeding that of other major producing countries. Looking to the future, with foreign investment in various countries competing to increase production, it is estimated that in 2007 the mainland PCB market is expected to grow by 17%, with a global market share of over 25%.

(2) China PCB production capacity analysis

Due to the overall strategic layout considerations, major PCB manufacturers in various countries have established production capacity in China, and China has become the world’s largest PCB supplier. In the past 1-2 years, PCB manufacturers in Europe and the United States have been shutting down factories and transferring orders to China due to cost pressures. This has directly contributed to the continuous growth of China's PCB production capacity in recent years. Due to full orders, many PCB manufacturers have fully loaded their production lines. Under the pressure of orders, various PCB factories have begun to actively expand their production capacity. In recent years, so many PCB factories have expanded their production at the same time. Increased production capacity. In addition to the expansion of production capacity by large manufacturers, a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises have also expanded their production capacity. The expansion of major manufacturers is shown in the chart below.

(3) China PCB product structure analysis

The specifications of printed circuit boards are more complicated, and there are many types of products. Generally, they can be classified according to the number of layers, flexibility, and materials of the PCB. According to the number of layers, it can be divided into: single-sided, double-sided and multi-layered; according to the flexibility, it can be divided into rigid printed circuit boards and flexible printed circuit boards; according to the material, it can be divided into several categories as shown in the following chart.

From the number of layers and development direction of the PCB, the PCB industry is divided into single-sided, double-sided, conventional multilayer, flexible, and HDI (High Density Interconnect) Six main product segments, including boards and packaging substrates. From the product life cycle “introduction period—growth period—

Maturity period—Decline period” and other four cycle dimensions, among them, single-panel and double-panel are in decline due to the current trend of short, light and thin electronic products. In the period, the proportion of its output value will gradually decrease. Developed countries and regions such as Japan, South Korea and Taiwan of my country have rarely produced such products in their homeland, and many large manufacturers have made it clear that they will no longer accept single and double panels.

Conventional multilayer boards and HDI are mature products, with increasingly mature process capabilities and higher product value-added, which are currently the main supply direction of most major PCB manufacturers. Chinese manufacturers Among them, only a few companies such as Ultrasonic Electronics have mastered the production technology; flexible boards, especially high-density flexible boards and rigid-rigid boards, have not been able to achieve mass production by a large number of manufacturers because the current technology is not mature, and they are products in the growth period. Because of its characteristics that are more suitable for digital products than rigid boards, the growth of flexible boards is very high, which is the future development direction of major manufacturers.

The packaging substrates used in ICs are relatively mature in developed electronics industries such as Japan and South Korea, whether they are R&D or manufactured, but they are still in the technological exploration stage in China. Only Ibiden (Beijing ) Co., Ltd., ASE Semiconductor (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., Zhuhai Doumen Chaoyi Electronics Co., Ltd. and other few manufacturers are producing in small batches. This is because my country’s IC industry is still very underdeveloped. However, as multinational electronics giants continue to move IC R&D institutions to China, and China’s own IC R&D and production levels improve, packaging substrates will have a huge market, which is a visionary. The development direction of the factory.

China’s rigid boards (single-sided, double-sided, multilayer, HDI boards) accounted for 83.8% of the total, of which 50% multilayer boards accounted for the largest proportion , Followed by soft board with a proportion of 15.6%. Due to the pressure of oversupply, most manufacturers entered a price war, and the growth of output value was lower than expected. With the continuous expansion of production capacity of HDI boards, the output value of HDI boards in 2005 increased by as much as 40%, accounting for 13.6%. In the past, the mainstream single and double panels decreased year by year.

There are about 600 PCB manufacturers in China, plus about 1,000 equipment and material manufacturers. The overall scale of the enterprise is dominated by foreign-funded enterprises. Whether it is investment scale, production technology, and output value, foreign-funded enterprises are stronger than general state-owned enterprises and collective enterprises. China's printed circuit industry is mainly distributed in the southeast coastal areas. This is also related to the large demand for water in the PCB industry. These areas are relatively rich in water resources. The Yangtze River Delta and Zhuhai Delta add up to 90% of the national total. At present, the ratio of the Yangtze River Delta to the Pearl River Delta is about 1:1.

Communication products are the mainstream application of PCB in China, accounting for 70%. Among them, as market demand is heating up and major manufacturers continue to increase their production capacity, mobile phone boards are ranked first at 19.3%. The small-scale photoelectric board market is mostly dominated by Japanese and Taiwanese companies, of which Taiwan’s focus is on hard boards. Japanese merchants mainly supply soft boards.

High-density multilayer, flexible PCB has become a bright spot in the development of the circuit board industry. In order to comply with the development trend of multi-function, miniaturization, and light weight of electronic products, the next generation of electronic systems requires high-density, high-integration, packaging, miniaturization, and multi-layer PCBs. HDI boards, flexible boards, IC packaging boards (BGA, CSP) and other PCB varieties will become major growth points.

The entire market will present two characteristics: one is that with the popularity of digital products, the annual growth rate of flexible boards reaches more than 50%, becoming the focus of the market; With the development of industry, automotive electronics will further promote the development of special substrates for HDI flexible boards.