At present, PCB is an indispensable accessory of electronic equipment. According to the classification of existing application fields, communication, computer, consumer electronics, medical equipment, automotive electronics, aerospace, industrial electronics and other seven categories will rank in the top four in 2021.
Global PCB market competitive landscape
China accounts for about 70% of the world’s output value
In the past two decades, the overall development trend of China’s PCB industry is basically the same as that of the global PCB industry. Under the overall trend of the global PCB industry shifting to Asia, benefiting from the advantages of huge domestic demand market, relatively low labor costs, industrial policy support, and mature industrial processing technology, mainland China has attracted investment from many PCB companies.
At present, the global printed circuit board production areas are mainly concentrated in the Asia-Pacific region, including mainland China, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and other countries and regions, while North America and Western Europe account for a relatively low proportion of production value. In 2021, the global output value of printed circuit boards will reach 89.220 billion dollars, of which, the output value of mainland China will account for 57%, the output value of Taiwan will account for 12%, and China will account for 69% of the output value of the global PCB industry.
High growth in PCB output value in mainland China
From 2017 to 2021, the scale of China’s PCB output value will gradually increase, and the growth rate will fluctuate significantly. In 2021, due to factors such as recovery in demand, upgrading of technical requirements, and sharp rise in raw material prices, China’s PCB output value will grow strongly, reaching 51.166 billion USD, a year-on-year increase of 28.4%.
PCB output value of Taiwan(China) recovered rapidly
From 2017 to 2021, the output value of Taiwan’s PCB manufacturing industry showed a downward trend and then an upward trend. After experiencing a phased decline in 2019, the growth momentum has resumed since 2020. In 2021, the output value of Taiwan’s PCB manufacturing industry will reach $10.716 billion, a year-on-year increase of 21.9%.
South Korea’s PCB output value fluctuates and grows
According to the data released by the World Electronic Circuits Council (WECC), from 2016 to 2021, the output value of South Korea’s PCB manufacturing industry showed small fluctuations. In 2021, due to comprehensive factors such as rising global commodity prices, depreciation of the US dollar, and rising terminal demand, the output value of the South Korean PCB manufacturing industry will reach $9.437 billion, a year-on-year increase of 20%.Japan’s PCB output value growth rate leads the world
According to data released by the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA), the output value of the Japanese PCB manufacturing industry has fluctuated from 2016 to 2021. After experiencing a phased decline in 2019, it has resumed its growth momentum since 2020. In 2021, the output value of Japan’s PCB manufacturing industry will reach 648.28 billion yen, a year-on-year increase of 33.2%, leading the world in growth rate. According to the exchange rate at the end of December 2021, the output value of PCB in Japan in 2021 will be about 5.635 billion dollars.
The overall fluctuation of global PCB output value rises
From 2017 to 2021, the overall global PCB output value will fluctuate and rise, and the growth rate will fluctuate significantly. In 2021, due to the recovery of demand, the upgrading of technical requirements and the sharp rise in raw material prices and other factors, the overall increase in PCB production costs and average prices will promote strong growth in global PCB output.
In 2021, the global PCB output value will reach $89.22 billion, a year-on-year increase of 22.10%. The growth rate of global PCB output value is almost twice that of the area growth rate of 13.2%, indicating that the simultaneous increase in price and sales has contributed to the substantial increase in output value.
The global PCB output value is concentrated in the Asia-Pacific region
From the perspective of the regional output value pattern of the global printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing industry, mainland China, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea are the main manufacturing bases of the global PCB manufacturing industry.
In 2021, the output value of mainland China will reach 57% of the global output value, Taiwan will account for 12%, South Korea and Japan will account for 10% and 8% respectively. South Korea and Taiwan mainly focus on packaging substrates and HDI; Japan focuses on high-end HDI, packaging substrates, and high-level flexible boards; mainland China still accounts for the majority of low-end boards.
The world’s top 100 PCB companies are concentrated in China
Judging from the regional distribution of the world’s top 100 PCB manufacturing companies, the current distribution pattern of global corporate resources is mainly in China. In 2021, among the top 100 PCB manufacturing companies in the world, there are 62 in China, of which 39 are in the top 100 in mainland China, and 23 are in Taiwan; in addition, there are 19 in Japan and 12 in South Korea.
Rigid single-layer board is the mainstream product of PCB in the world
Communications, computers, automotive electronics and consumer electronics accounted for 31%, 23%, 17% and 16% respectively. In terms of trends, the communications industry is on a downward trend, while computers, automobiles, and consumer electronics are on an upward trend.
From the perspective of the supply structure of global printed circuit board products, the current main products are standard multi-layer PCB, flexible boards, HDI PCB, and IC carrier boards, while traditional single-layer board products have a downward trend, and the supply scale of rigid-flex boards and other PCB boards smaller. Among the main products in 2021, standard multilayer boards account for about 38.6%, HDI boards account for about 15.5%, flexible boards account for about 15.4%, and IC substrate boards account for about 14.8%.
Conclusion
Communication is the most important downstream application field of PCB. The PCB requirements in the communication field are divided into communication equipment and communication terminals. Communication equipment includes communication base stations, transmission equipment, routers, switches, fiber-to-the-home equipment, etc., and communication terminals are mainly smartphones. The PCB requirements for communication equipment are mainly multi-layer boards, high-frequency and high-speed boards, and the PCB requirements for communication terminals.
