According to the statistics indicated by the Science and Technology International Strategy Center of Industrial Technology International Strategy Development Institute of the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), the PCB industry has continued its growth from 2017 to 2018. Although the growth rate has dropped to 6.31%, the output value has reached US$69.1 billion, once again, setting a new record high. In addition, Taiwan’s market share has accounted for 31.3%, being the highest in the world, followed by 23% from China, while Japan’s market share has declined to 19.1% annually, accounting for the third largest in the world.

 

    According to the statistics released by Japan Electronics Packaging Circuits Industry Association (JPCA), the output of printed circuit boards (including PCB, FPC, and SLP) in Japan has dropped by 16.4%, compared to the same period in April 2018 and the output value contracted by 10.2% to J¥34.918 billion, resulting in a decline for the fourth consecutive month.

 

    The global market share of Japan’s PCB industry has additionally dropped from approximately 23% in 2011 to 19.1% in 2018; however, the scale of output value did not increase and has dropped by 4% to approximately US$13.2 billion. Within the same period that Japan’s PCB industry experienced a decline, the global PCB industry’s output value increased from $59.9 billion to $69.1 billion.

 

 

 

 

    As analyzed by the Taiwan Printed Circuit Association (TPCA), the reason that the output value of Japan’s PCB industry has not developed with the global output value is mainly due to competition from manufacturers from the mainland and Taiwan. Especially after the rise of mainland-based manufacturers, Japanese manufacturing plants and factories have almost withdrawn from the market of low-end products in full scale, while news of various measures such as strategically closing down factories or organizing sales with the business department is often reported.

 

    In addition, the brand advantage of electronic end products that Japan has successfully experienced in the past is almost entirely absent, which has prompted more Japanese PCB manufacturers to focus on the niche-market with greater effort and attention. Yet, Japanese manufacturers are already taking risks and enduring the period of decline before thorough changes have been fully implemented, not to mention the fact that the results of transformation in the past few years have fully emerged. 

 

    Regarding the potential threats against Taiwanese manufacturers, there are unfavorable factors such as the US-China trade war and the constriction of environmental protection in the mainland, which are difficult to change in the short term. More importantly, the mainland has turned itself into the primary manufacturing cluster for global PCB. In addition, even if the government on the mainland has actively placed limits on production and emissions, the mainland-based manufacturers remain defiant to these limits and have aggressively expanded their production. In addition, many listed companies have enthusiastically recruited more funding to invest in high-density and high-level products. Moreover, they have also expanded their production capacity and increased its business scope through frequent mergers and acquisitions. (News source: Commercial Times)