The US-China trade war is heating up, adding many new variables to the PCB industry. However, the development of 5G networks has already been the established trend approached by various countries. Hence, the demands for high-frequency and high-speed copper-clad laminate, communication boards, and SLPs are strong, and the related manufacturers are expected to put up with the hostile trends. 

 

With the advent of the 5G era, there are huge business opportunities in the PCB industry. As viewed, the number and specifications of PCBs to be utilized, ranging from base stations to smart phones, are quite different from those in the past. Since 5G allows for ultra-high-speed communication speeds, high built-in density, low delay time, and other characteristics, it will help trigger the demands. The PCB area will be enlarged, the number of stacked layers increased, and the demand for copper-clad laminate enhanced. There will also be the need for high-frequency and high-speed materials.

 

As for the components of 5G base stations, high-frequency boards will be used in large quantities. The development trend of antennas will be shifted to multi-reception and miniaturization, and the number of antennas will increase from conventional 4-port and 8-port to 64-port, and even 128-port. The high-frequency board will be drastically enhanced due to the improvement to antenna applications. In addition, the power required by 5G mobile phones will be even greater, helping boost the penetration rate of SLP. Therefore, the output value of PCBs on both sides of the Taiwan Strait will increase by about 1.5% in 2019 as compared to that of the last year with the commercialization of 5G and the rise of new applications, which is estimated to be about NT$611.1 billion.

 

Currently, domestic PCB manufacturers that are already actively involved in the 5G industry include top tier players for copper-clad laminate such as CCP, Nan Ya PCB, Co-Tech, and Cybertek, middle-tier players for copper-clad laminate (CCL) such as Tuc, Iteq, and EMC, and lower-tier players of microwave communication board manufacturers such as Boardtek, fht, Nee, and ACCL, among others. Because CCL has accounted for about 50% of the cost of PCBs, it is considered an important material as it supports the high-frequency transmission of the PCB.

 

As indicated from the financial statements in the first quarter, the three leaders in PCB copper-clad laminate Tuc, EMC, and Iteq have, all, met with a favorable profit in the first quarter, promoting the stock prices to breach NT$100. In particular, Iteq’s share price, which has surpassed the earnings of the other two, once amounted to NT$112, and it has rewritten its new high since it was listed. However, its stock price has, because of the recent Huawei incident, pulled back and corrected, losing its stronghold of NT$100. In view of market situation, the Huawei incident is likely to delay the development schedule of 5G and bring in many uncertain factors, and that should affect the annual profit forecasts. (News source: CTnews)