TAOYUAN, TAIWAN – In the face of intensifying competition, Taiwan Printed Circuit Association Chairman Chang-Ming Li believes Taiwanese companies must leverage their core strengths to develop advanced PCB processes, materials and equipment through the barriers of technology and quality to increase the added value of their products and build the competitive advantage of Taiwan's PCB industry chain, whether by mass production or niche models.

Li proposes several strategies for the future of PCBs: promoting the technology center platform; industry alliances to promote horizontal and vertical collaborations between board makers and material and equipment suppliers to break through technology bottlenecks; promoting the technology verification platform to accelerate the realization of benefits; and taking into account the net-zero carbons strategy portfolio of the PCB industry, hoping to achieve the goals of localization of supply, autonomy of advanced technology, and net-zero carbon emissions.

In response to the design upgrade of end products led by applications such as the future 5G communication and high-performance computing, this year's advanced technology inventory focused on the gaps in HDI, HLC, substrate (carrier board), FPC-related processes, materials and equipment for HPC, B5G-edge, B5G-infrastructure, high power, and other end applications.

The degree of autonomy of advanced materials is still insufficient in ABF, BT, dry film, and electroplating chemical, according to a recent TPCA survey. Smart manufacturing has problems such as the data collection framework not being defined. Also, the data security defense must be improved, the association says.

In 2020, the total output value of Taiwan's PCB industry chain reached NT$1.04 trillion (US$37.4 billion).

Ed.: NT1 = US$0.036

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