According to Prismark's statistics,the global PCB output value in 2017 was$58.843 billion,an increase of 8.6%year-on-year($54.207 billion in 2016).This year,China's PCB reached 29.732 billion US dollars,a year-on-year increase of 9.6%(27.123 billion US dollars last year).
　　This year,the PCB growth rates of various countries/regions were-0.4%in the United States,2.8%in Europe,0.0%in Japan(note Japan-5.0%in 2016),8.9%in Taiwan,10.1%in South Korea,9.6%in China,and 8.6%globally.Since 2011,the global PCB growth rate has been 5.6%in 2011;2012,0.5%;2013,0.9%;2014,2.3%;2015,-3.7%;2016,-2.0%;2017,8.6%.Forecast 2018,3.8%.(Prismark data)
　　According to data released by the Taiwan Institute of Industry and Technology,the global PCB growth rate in 2017 was 7.9%,including 8.4%in Japan,4.3%in South Korea,12.0%in Taiwan,and 9.6%in China.
　　The above data indicates that global and Chinese PCBs performed well in 2017;Chinese PCB has accounted for 50.5%of the global proportion;The global growth rate of 8.6%is the highest since 2011.The reason for this is:
　　(1)The global economy grew at a rate of 3.6%in 2017,a significant increase compared to 3.2%in 2016.The economies of various countries around the world have grown comprehensively,and no country is in a state of decline.The global economic growth rate is expected to reach 3.7%in 2018.
　　(2)Affected by economic growth,consumers are optimistic about the future economy,and their pent up desire to purchase is gradually releasing.PCB application terminals(such as computers,smartphones,motors,home appliances,and the three C fields)are slowing down and growing steadily.In 2017,except for the shrinkage of computers,other products maintained a stable level,driving the growth of PCB demand.In addition,the application of various emerging electronic products in the consumer market,such as wearable electronic devices,electronic hearing aids,Glucose meter,intelligent devices for electric vehicles,aerospace and other fields,also drove the increase of PCB orders.
　　(3)The average unit price is too high.The proportion of high-end PCBs used in terminal products has increased,leading to an increase in PCB unit prices.Upstream copper foil prices have increased,and PCB manufacturers have reflected some of the material price increases on customer quotes,while most customers are able to accept reasonable price increases.Therefore,the adjustment of average PCB unit price in 2017 was also one of the reasons for the increase in PCB output value.
　　The growth of PCB in different countries/regions in 2017 has its own unique characteristics.Japanese PCBs began to recover in the fourth quarter of 2016,with some major manufacturers originally focusing on carrier production and now switching to substrate-like(a type of printed circuit board between HDI and IC carrier boards)and fan-out crystal level packaging(FOWLP,Fan out Water Level Packaging),which are compatible with Apple's iPhone 8 and iPhone X.Mass production of Fan out packaging boards and carrier boards has become one of the reasons for the growth of Japanese PCB production value,and FPC is also another reason driving the growth of Japanese PCB production value.
　　The fastest growing PCB varieties in Taiwan are FPC and soft hard combination boards.Among them,FPC has increased by 13%,and the output value of soft and hard combination boards is relatively small,but the growth rate is over 30%.The driving factor is the growth of camera modules required for cars and smartphones.In the past,cars used to have an average of two front and rear lenses,but now many cars are equipped with four lenses;The smartphone lens has changed from one in the past to one in the front and one in the back,and even to a dual lens on the back.In addition,the power management systems and fast charging systems of electric vehicles and smartphones both use a combination of software and hardware.The Samsung mobile phone explosion in South Korea in 2016 caused a significant impact on the Korean PCB,which declined by about 10%last year.In 2017,South Korea successfully reversed its two consecutive years of downward trend and became a positive growth of 4.3%.The reason is that Samsung successfully launched its flagship products S8 and Note 8,which sold well,while all PCBs were manufactured by Korean PCB manufacturers.In addition,the new model of Apple in 2017 has been changed to OLED panels,and Samsung has returned to the Apple screen supply chain.This type of screen related components are mainly supplied by Korean suppliers,requiring FPC or soft hard combination boards as links.Multiple PCB factories in South Korea have benefited,driving the growth of PCB in South Korea in 2017.
　　Key Development Points for PCB in 2018
　　①Environmental pressure drives PCB enterprises to develop circular economy
　　Environmental protection is becoming increasingly strict,and the trend of circular economy is unstoppable.This is the basic prerequisite for the survival of PCB enterprises.Controlling wastewater discharge,recycling water,recycling copper,gold,nickel,tin,and waste residue from waste liquid,and controlling exhaust emissions,PCB enterprises have great potential for developing circular economy.
　　②R&D and production of high-end PCB products
　　Many electronic products have not seen a significant increase in shipment volume,but their functions have changed,and PCBs must move towards higher levels.The flagship products(models)of multiple phone manufacturers are becoming increasingly high-performance,and Apple's iPhone 8 and iPhone X have started using similar carriers.IPhone 8 uses one$8 class carrier,while iPhone X uses two class carriers,with an average unit price of$12-14.Samsung's S9 phone also uses a similar carrier board.At present,multiple PCB factories have invested in the research and production of class carrier boards,such as AT&S,IBDEN,Zhending,Xinxing,Jingshuo,Huatong,Korea circuit,etc.,all of which have already possessed class carrier board production capacity.
　　③Increasing frequency and high-speed printed boards
　　The driving force is 5G communication,which will form communication networks,base station equipment,and mobile terminals around 2020.The demand for high-frequency and high-speed printed boards will significantly increase.The amount of information transmission required for high-definition television increases,and noise can cause picture distortion.Signal attenuation can weaken the signal,resulting in insufficient data transmission.Therefore,high-frequency high-speed boards are needed.Autonomous driving of automobiles,the essential ADAS(Autonomous Driving Control System)for future cars,must use high-frequency printed boards.The Apple iPhone X uses 21 FPCs,an increase of 5 compared to the 16 FPCs of the iPhone 7 Plus,and the high-frequency board has also increased by 3.
　　④Printed boards for artificial intelligence are blooming everywhere
　　The computing hardware architecture of artificial intelligence,including central processing unit(CPU),graphics processor,field programmable array(FPGA),sensors,data transmission,power efficiency,and so on,will bring various artificial intelligence solutions to the growth of PCB applications.According to historical data statistics,a semiconductor IC output value of$10 billion will be accompanied by a PCB demand of approximately$1.7 billion.The revenue of hardware driven by artificial intelligence will rapidly grow from$800 million in 2015 to$44.5 billion in 2024,thus generating approximately$7.5 billion in PCB market demand for artificial intelligence.
　　⑤Copper clad laminates will drive up PCB prices
　　Reason:Countries have significantly promoted infrastructure construction,and the demand for lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles continues to grow.In 2017,the cumulative increase in copper prices was about 30%,exceeding$7000/ton at the end of last year.Copper clad panel factories have raised prices several times,transferring the cost pressure of copper price increases to PCB manufacturers,and PCB factories have also adjusted their prices to pass on costs to customers.It is expected that copper prices will continue to rise in 2018,and various copper clad panel companies are gradually increasing their prices.PCB factories are facing operational pressure to shift costs.