Looking ahead, Elite Material Co. Ltd., a copper clad laminate (CCL) plant of PCB making, benefited by increases in prices and the capacity and expected to hit a new high in the revenue/profit in the first quarter, compared with the same period last year. This year, Elite Material Co. Ltd. expected a better operating performance as a result of the netcom/server business and the increasing penetration rate of halogen-free materials used in China’s smart phones.

As the top manufacturer of halogen-free CCL, Elite Material Co. Ltd. constantly replaced halogen materials with eco-friendly halogen-free materials and continued to apply halogen-free materials to the netcom/server business. The top netcom manufacturer Cisco began to use halogen-free materials; IBM/Intel also applied halogen-free materials to servers and switches, which consumed more CCLs than cell phones and PCs. In this trend, netcom/server products will be the most important momentum of growth this year, with an increasing market share and a higher gross margin that results in the upturn of the gross margin of Elite Material Co. Ltd.

In respect of handheld devices, RoHS2 is planned to be implemented in China to expand the scope of the application of the products, which may further facilitate the application of halogen-free materials in electronic products, including smart phones. Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. has used halogen-free materials since Q3 2016 and oppo/vivo/Xiaomi expect to follow this trend. With a constant increase in the market share of China’s smart phones, an increasing trend of using halogen-free materials in Chinese smart phones will significantly benefit Elite Material Co. Ltd. as it is the world's top manufacturer at present. In the current automotive market, no halogen-free material has been used. As self-driving automobiles are beginning to take shape, however, the automotive product line is expected to grow constantly in the future.

In terms of capacity, the Hsinchu plant of Elite Material Co. Ltd. began to go into operation in the first quarter this year. The second-stage expansion, which is scheduled in the middle of the year, is expected to increase the total capacity by 15%. (Source: MoneyDJ-Focus News)