TAOYUAN CITY, TAIWAN – Third quarter output value of printed circuit board companies across the Taiwan Strait was NT$185.9 billion (US$6.6 billion), flat year-over-year, says the Taiwan Printed Circuit Association.

Factoring in this year’s exchange rate, the total PCB output value in the third quarter was US$6.3 billion, up 6% over the same period last year.

The fourth quarter utilization rate is still at a high level, says TPCA, and the 2020 annual output value is expected to be US$22.9 billion, a new high.

The 2020 5G boost has enabled Taiwan’s PCB industry to maintain its output value, despite the impact of the epidemic, says the association. In addition, large Taiwan-funded companies have returned to Taiwan to invest or expand production capacity and invest in advanced processes in response to the demand for high-end 5G products, so Taiwan firms have strong growth momentum, with their overall performance better than that of Taiwanese companies on the mainland. The overall production share of Taiwanese companies on the mainland in third quarter was 62.5%, down 1% sequentially.

IC substrates and rigid boards were key players in the third quarter. The IC substrate growth rate remained double digits, and due to capacity constraints and supply shortages, it is still the main growth engine for Taiwan’s PCB industry. Multilayer boards continued to benefit from the double effects of high demand for laptops and tablets, driven by remote working or learning because of Covid-19.

The rebound in automobile sales turned revenues from negative to positive, up 0.9% year-over-year. The upgrade in the specifications of mobile phone main boards because of 5G was still the main reason behind the better-than-average HDI growth rate during the quarter, says TPCA.

Changes in product design have also impacted results. For example, since TWS introduced the SiP + flex board design in the fourth quarter last year, its share has continued to increase, resulting in a sharp decline in demand for rigid-flex boards. However, with iPhone eliminating accessories, the demand for SiP for headset applications has warmed, boasting high-end substrate production performance.

The impact of the epidemic on global economic activities gave the PCB industry no reason to be optimistic about 2020 at the beginning of the year, but the 5G early-stage infrastructure and carrier applications filled the gap caused by the epidemic in a timely manner, further promoting PCB price and value, says TPCA.

Ed.: NT$1 = US$0.036