Wed, Apr 03, 2024 page12

• PCB production value growth tipped to return

  DEMAND FACTOR: The trickle of AI applications into edge devices from cloud-based devices will stimulate demand for advanced PCBs,’ a local association said

  • By Lisa Wang / Staff reporter
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  The production value of Taiwan’s printed circuit board (PCB) industry is expected to return to yearly growth of 6.3 percent this year, backed by robust demand for advanced PCBs used in artificial intelligence (AI) applications and electric vehicles (EV), the Taiwan Printed Circuit Association said yesterday.

  A pickup in the mobile phone, computer and semiconductor sectors would also help boost demand, the association said.

  Overall production value of local PCB companies is forecast to expand to NT$818.2 billion (US$25.51 billion), compared with NT$769.8 billion last year, it said.

  

  Semiconductor chips are pictured on a printed circuit board in an arranged photograph taken on Feb. 17 last year. The production value of Taiwan’s printed circuit board industry is expected to grow 6.3 percent year-on-year to NT$818.2 billion (US$25.51 billion) this year, the Taiwan Printed Circuit Association said yesterday.

  Photo: Reuters

  “The trickle of AI applications into edge devices from cloud-based devices will stimulate demand for advanced PCBs this year,” the association said.

  Demand for PCBs used in vehicles would continue to grow this year amid Beijing’s push for higher EV penetration in China and EV makers’ aggressive overseas deployments, the association said.

  Last year, the production value of PCBs used in vehicles increased 2.8 percent annually, the only growth segment of the year, it said.

  With PCB materials and manufacturing equipment included, the association said it expects the production value of the local PCB supply chain to advance 7.4 percent to NT$1.21 trillion this year.

  Local PCB manufacturers’ total production value contracted 16.7 percent last year from a peak of NT$900 billion in 2022 as customers balked at placing new orders, the association said.

  The three major PCB applications — communications, PCs and semiconductors — all dipped last year as high inflation, tight monetary policy and economic uncertainty dealt a severe blow to demand, it said.

  Zhen Ding Technology Holding Ltd (臻鼎), the world’s largest PCB maker, last month told investors that the worst was over and that it expects its revenue to grow by a double-digit percentage this year.

  Zhen Ding Technology Holding’s revenue last year dropped 11.55 percent to NT$151.56 billion from a year earlier.

  On Monday, the company announced that it is to expand its production lines in China’s Shenzhen with an investment of 700 million yuan (US$96.74 million) in light of rising demand for consumer electronics and vehicles.

  The company is also investing in a new production line in Kaohsiung to produce flexible PBCs and advanced PCB modules starting in the second half of this year, and plans to expand capacity in Thailand with a pilot run in the second half of next year, it said.

  Taiwanese PCB manufacturers have continued to expand in Southeast Asian nations such as Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam to cope with geopolitical tensions, but those production lines were still only a small portion, 2.7 percent, of their total production value in the fourth quarter of last year, the association said.

  Taiwan contributed 31.7 percent to PCB makers’ total production value, behind China at 65.6 percent, it said, adding that China would remain a major PCB manufacturing hub.
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