As we enter the conventional peak season for electronic products and despite the fact that many uncertain factors remain in the global environment, such as the chaotic and unclear situation of the Sino-US trade wars and the continuous slow demands for global smartphones and the auto market, PCB manufacturers’ revenue are still able to continue at a sustainable level as encouraged by downstream customers that begin their advanced stocking and shipments for new products. 

 

    Iteq and EMC, from the copper-clad laminate substrate plant (CCL), have benefited from the accelerated 5G layout developed by various countries, as well as the strong shipments for high-frequency materials, which has motivated the performance of these two manufacturers. According to an analysis completed by the industry, the total investment into 5G infrastructure will be 2 to 3 times higher that of 4G, while the substrate material used will be 3 to 5 times higher than that of 4G. To accommodate the characteristics of high frequency and high-speed, big data loading, low loss, and others, a large proportion of new high-end materials would be needed for substrate materials. In the process of equipment replacement in the future, this will encourage many business opportunities for material suppliers. 

 

    Unimicron is a PCB and IC substrate manufacturing plant that has benefited from the strong shipments of substrates in the first half of the year. As a result of this, the company’s turnover and profit are found to have grown significantly as compared to that of last year. In August, the demands for ABF substrate have, because of persisting 5G communication, AI, high-performance computing (HPC), and other applications, been driven to lasting high, while the utilization rate of PCB and HD has gone up again as costumers have launched new products. Therefore, these customers have helped to stimulate the turnover in August to break a new high record in a single month. 

 

    Unimicron indicated that they are likely to be affected by the global environment because of their diversified company clientele. The company’s customers are also optimistic about the fourth quarter of 2019 but they still have to await the market reactions before they place orders for further shipments. As a result of this, the company will remain cautious toward the market. 

 

    Under the stable addition of orders from the mobile phone HDI, automobile board, and server, Zhen Ding will achieve steady growth in revenue this year, while its profit-making performance in the first half of the year also ranks the best among its peers in the trade. The company said that server orders are gradually increasing along with the conventional peak season. Although the demand for mobile phones is weak, the development has grown steadily as the customer line-up has increased and new machines are marketed, in addition to the fact that the mainland's domestic sales remain strong. As for automobile boards, manufacturers have, in sequence, given up low-margin orders and shifted to high-end products as their primary target. It is viewed that the prospect of operation this year should be relatively positive.

 

    Dynamic has benefited from the increase in customer demand, its technological transformation at the Kunshan Plant to enhance ASP, and the boost in their production capacity at the Huangshi Plant, which has encourage positive growth in recent months. As for the items of growth, these include the automotive board, storage devices, and consumer products. It is further understood that the high-end process production capacity at the Kunshan plant is currently in under-supply. (News source: Commercial Times).