Collectively, the worldwide automotive PCB market has accounted for about 11% of the PCB industry, and is still growing. In addition, automotive electronics has already marched into the fields of automotive power and safety, and its scale has long surpassed automotive telematics devices. These have not only become the most important automotive PCB application market, but also a niche market of which  every manufacturer strives to take a share of. Thanks to the stability of orders of automotive boards, Taiwanese manufacturers such as Zhen Ding, KY and others are found to have a rather favorable performance in this field.

 

    Tripod’s primary growth momentum can be attributed to mobile phone HDI’s, auto boards, servers, and other fields. In fact, Tripod has indicated that it is optimistic about vehicles gradually turning electronic, and it should continue to drive demands for growth. In the future, PCB’s in vehicles will be so many and varied that they will act like a large computer. Hence, it is estimated that a large portion of their future revenue will originate from the automotive sector. At present, automobile boards have accounted for more than 20% of Tripod's revenue - the highest of all their other products.

 

    Since the end of last year, KY has continued to grow, with stable orders for automotive boards coupled with cost optimization, efficiency enhancement of new processes, a lower scrap rate, and a continued better product mix, which has led to a record high profit for the first quarter against the same periods last year. As noted by KY, although the global auto market is in decline, the company itself still has a positive year-to-year growth in the field of the automotive board. At present, the utilization rate of each plant is approaching full capacity, and the forecast for operations for the second half of the year are optimistic.

 

    As for other companies such as Unitech, who have been focused on the production of automobile board for more than 20 years, the product has accounted for the second largest revenue stream and has enjoyed a long-term and stable supply with demand partnerships with world-class manufacturers. Observations from current trends in the market has led Unitech to believe that ADAS and high-end internal electronic control systems will, in turn, be upgraded into high-precision HDI boards. Therefore, long-distance, high-frequency radar boards, engine control units, brake assist components, gearboxes, integrated instrument panels of the consoles and others are going to have an obvious demand and lots of growth potential. In addition, manufacturers have focused on new customers with a significant demand for ADAS, and it is expected that there will be one to three new clients that will work their way into the mass production of these items this year and next.

 

    Dynamic has also benefited from the excellent performance of the automotive board, and it's an important basis of stable orders for the company who specialize in traditional audio-visual entertainment systems, body control, wireless vehicle chargers, antennae, airbags, interior upholstery controls and others. HDI can be applied to cameras, sensors, short-range radars, and reversing radars, whereas thick copper plates can be used on central junction boxes, charging controllers, and others as semi-flex, high-frequency materials and rigid-flex soft boards. For the time being, automotive products have accounted for 38% of Dynamic's revenue, and it is estimated that its revenue this year should continue to exceed expectations. (News source: Commercial Times)