5G communications have become the most important upgrade trend of smartphones and are also the key that affects artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of things (loT), and automotive electronics. The greatest difference between 5G and 4G mobile phones is the chip design and RF modules. According to the Taiwan Printed Circuit Association (TPCA), power amplifiers (PAs) are considered to be the second-largest market of output value, in addition to filters that require more filtering functions for 5G multi-carrier aggregations (CA). PA, which is different from filters and can be placed on top of the substrate list, needs substrates for loading; hence, the business opportunity in need of the substrate triggered by PA for 5G mobile phones is surely worth looking forward to.

 

    As pointed out by the TPCA, more frequency resources will be put to use in order to achieve higher transmission and lower delay times for the period of 5G. As a consequence, the demand for RF front-end communication components should continue to increase and it is expected that frequency-band will increase from 15 in the current 4G era to 30 in the 5G era, whereas the number of filters also increase from 40 to 70 and the number of Switch controls increases from 10 to 30, resulting in the final rendering cost of RF modules to continuously rise. Consequently, the increase will jump from a US$3 rise for 2G to a US$8 for 3G, to a US$18 for 4G, and it is expected that the cost of RF modules will reach $25 for 5G.

 

    In 2017, the global market scale of RF front-end for mobile phones and components should reach US$15 billion and it is expected to reach US$35 billion by 2023. As a whole, the total output value of RF front-end and components will grow at an average annual compound growth rate of 14%. Among such growth, the output value of PA is estimated to increase from US$5 billion in 2017 to US$7 billion in 2023, with an average annual compound growth rate of 7%.

 

    The TPCA also indicated that since the frequency-band of 5G mobile phones has become more, the number of RF modules would ultimately increase if the initial RF modules were not fully integrated at the initial period. As such, the substrate or circuit board needed for RF modules will be enhanced in the first place: Secondly, the motherboard of mobile phones has to be re-configured or even enlarged in size with the increase of RF modules as a consequence. Therefore, the business opportunities that 5G mobile phones can bring about for the PCB industry are worth looking forward to. (News source: Commercial Times).