PCB Tech - 5G brings growth and development of PCB demand

After ten years of intergenerational upgrades, 5G has brought about a dual growth in demand for PCB/copper-clad materials and value-added. China's IMT-2020 (5G) Promotion Group put forward the "five key technologies" for 5G. The ecology of the wireless access network equipment industry chain has changed greatly. 1) 5G RF will introduce Massive MIMO (Massive MIMO) technology. Compared with 4G, the number of 5G base stations is increasing significantly. We estimate that 2/3 of the output of mobile base station antennas will be transferred to the PCB industry chain, so we estimate that the value of high-frequency PCB/copper cladding 5G base station antenna materials will be More than 10 times that of 4G. 2) The 5G network will carry more broadband traffic. Investment in routers, switches, IDCs and other equipment will increase, and the demand for high-speed PCB/copper-clad materials will increase significantly. In addition to the increase in demand, high-performance equipment will also use high-value-added high-frequency (antenna) and high-speed (IDC/base station) plates, which will bring added value and consumption to the PCB/copper-clad material industry chain. Increase.

5G communication equipment will become the core driving force of the PCB industry in the next three years. The PCB industry has entered a mature period, the traditional application market has been saturated, and the key to growth depends on the downstream emerging segments. Prismark believes that automobiles and communication equipment will become the new engine of industry growth in the next five years. Whether it is automotive electronics (life-related) or communication equipment (single device value, covering a wide range), manufacturers will directly certify the upstream materials of the equipment. The automotive smart driving and new energy automotive markets have developed rapidly in recent years. However, the certification threshold for the automotive board market is relatively high, especially for high value-added core components such as ADAS and energy management, which are difficult for the Chinese to realize. Mainland manufacturers made breakthroughs in a short period of time. In comparison, China's downstream equipment manufacturers in the communications field have achieved a transition from a follower to a leader in the 5G era. It is expected that 5G will achieve higher-end upstream high-frequency/high-speed plate replacement. We believe that PCB will become the core driving force of industry growth in the next three years.

5G brings high-end material localization opportunities from recycling to growth. Copper clad laminate is the main material of PCB. Copper clad laminate products have traditional products and high-end products. Traditional products are mainly epoxy fiberglass board (FR-4 and modified FR-4) and simple composite materials (CEM-1, CEM-3). At present, production capacity has basically shifted from Europe, the United States and Japan to mainland China; the output value of copper clad materials in mainland China accounts for 65% of the world. At the same time, high-addition special material copper clad laminates are still monopolized by foreign companies such as Rogers, Taconic and Panasonic. Special material copper clad material generally refers to a copper clad laminate made of a certain proportion of special resin filler. The main filling materials include PTFE (millimeter wave radar and ultra-high frequency communication). Hydrocarbon (6GHz base station radio frequency), PPE/CE (high-speed multilayer PCB), etc. Special material copper clad laminates have higher added value and higher unit price than traditional FR-4 products, so they are not affected by cyclical fluctuations of raw materials. With the upcoming increase in demand for 5G and automotive electronics, high-end manufacturers can share the growth dividends of emerging downstream areas. In the 5G era, domestic companies with high-end production capacity are expected to gradually break through foreign monopolies, dilute the original circular nature, and welcome the dual improvement of performance and valuation.

5G equipment PCB sharing will be determined by "process + material". Upstream high-end materials are important, but process and design have a great impact on the final performance of PCB products. "Process + Material" will share the added value of 5G in the industry. 5G high Frequency/high-speed circuit boards need PCB impedance control during the design process. 5G equipment PCB performance is very high, such as the number of layers, area (large area, small thickness-to-diameter ratio), drilling accuracy (small hole size, board alignment), wire (Line width, line spacing) etc. Therefore, higher technical cooperation is required in the PCB processing process.