On May 24, (603936.) The first high-end PCB factory built for the AI era, Chuangxin Intelligent Park, was announced to be put into production. The park is positioned to produce PCB products such as high multi-layer, HDI, combination of hardware and software, mechanical buried blind holes, which are needed in the fields of AI server, network communication, new energy and automotive electronics. With the project put into operation, the company’s supply capacity of advanced products will be further improved.
The AI craze boosted the market demand for high-end PCBs, the supply of high-end HDI continued to be tight, and the capacity utilization rate of related manufacturers was also at a high level. Financial Associated Press reporters learned that, in addition to BOMIN, SCC, AVARY and other manufacturers are also in the high-end PCB plate layout, industry manufacturers are launching a new round of capacity competition. According to the forecast of relevant institutions, HDI and other high-end PCBs will be the most powerful market segments in the future, and accordingly, production capacity will also be one of the key factors to determine whether manufacturers can share the industry growth dividend. “AI is one of the important driving forces for the industry demand to pick up this year.” A person from a listed company told the Financial Associated Press reporter. With the gradual release of demand, the prosperity of the industrial chain is expected to further improve. Correspondingly, major manufacturers are also making efforts to expand production capacity to meet market needs.
“Benefiting from the structural demand for high-end HDI and high-speed high-level PCB, such as artificial intelligence and intelligent driving, the industry forecasts a more optimistic overall performance in the second quarter.” He Gang, Vice General Manager and Secretary of the Board of Directors of ELLINGTON Electronics, said in response to questions from reporters at the performance meeting that the company’s recent business operations were normal and the comprehensive capacity utilization rate was still at a relatively high level.
In response to a reporter’s question recently, Zou Xin’e, Secretary of HONGHE Science and Technology, also revealed that the company’s electronic cloth is currently in strong demand, with good capacity utilization and full production and sales. SCC recently said in an institutional survey that the PCB business has maintained a high utilization rate of factory capacity in the near future due to the continuing demand for computing power and automotive electronics market. Some manufacturers in the industry told the Financial Associated Press reporter, “The whole PCB market, in fact, HDI, HRC, these high-end production capacity is still relatively scarce.” At present, various head PCB manufacturers are adding PCB products with higher added value and more market demand potential. SCC Circuit is currently promoting the construction of Nantong Phase IV project to build a PCB technology platform and capacity covering HDI and other capabilities. Pengding Holdings recently said in Interactive Easy that in the first quarter of this year, the company’s automotive and server board revenue continued to grow at a high speed. At present, the advanced HDI and SLP projects in Huai’an Third Park and Kaohsiung Park have been put into production, and it is expected to achieve large-scale production in the peak season.
According to Prismark’s forecast, the total PCB market output value will be close to $79 billion in 2025, with output value increasing by about 6.8% and area increasing by about 7.0%. In the medium to long term, artificial intelligence, high-speed networks, automotive electronics (EV and ADAS), and portable smart consumer electronics devices with advanced AI capabilities are expected to generate incremental demand. Among them, packaging substrates, HDI boards and multi-layer boards with more than 18 layers have become the most powerful market segments. The above-mentioned agencies also predict that from 2024 to 2029, the compound growth rate of more than 18 boards is expected to reach 15.7%, while HDI is expected to reach 6.4%, which is higher than overall growth rate of the industry.