SURREY, U.K., Nov. 5 -- Flexible printed circuit production will grow an average of 21.5% per year through 2008, reaching $2.84 billion, says a new report from BPA Consulting. Worldwide flex production will total $1.98 billion in 2004, a record.

While the main drivers remain mobile phones, display interconnects, digital cameras and PDAs, new applications are emerging in the medical, aerospace and military markets, BPA predicts that these markets will remain relatively small.

The demand for hard disk drives and optical media drives is also increasing for portable consumer goods, A/V and computers . However, says BPA, the net effect for volumes will be negligible as the smaller size of flex boards used will offset higher demand. Furthermore, the costs of flex-rigid PCBs outweigh the benefits in most portable consumer applications.

Discrete flexible circuits and connectors will continue to be used in most mobile phones for the next thrree to five years. Many Asian producers are developing and sampling innovative lower-cost technologies that show promise, BPA says.

Asia (excluding Japan) produces the largest volumes of FPC, having overtaken Japan last year. The fastest-growing country in Asia is China, who has increased its share of Asian production from 8% in 2000 to 17% in 2003. China is expected to account for 29% in 2008.