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PCB Technical

PCB Technical - FPC becomes the general trend of PCB industry

PCB Technical

PCB Technical - FPC becomes the general trend of PCB industry

FPC becomes the general trend of PCB industry

2021-11-02
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Author:Downs

Electronic products must use PCB. PCB (printed circuit board) is used in almost all electronic products and is considered the "mother of electronic system products." Therefore, the market trend of PCB is almost the vane of the electronics industry. With the development of high-end and miniaturized electronic products such as mobile phones, notebook computers and PDAs, there is an increasing demand for flexible PCBs (FPCs). PCB manufacturers are accelerating the development of thinner, lighter and denser FPCs.

FPC (flexible circuit board) is a kind of PCB, also known as "soft board".

FPC is made of flexible substrates such as polyimide or polyester film. It has the advantages of high wiring density, light weight, thin thickness, flexibility, and high flexibility. It can withstand millions of dynamic bending without damaging the wires., According to the space layout requirements, it can move and expand arbitrarily, realize three-dimensional assembly, and achieve the effect of integration of component assembly and wire connection. It has advantages that other types of circuit boards cannot match.

pcb board

FPC product technical characteristics

FPC can be divided into PI, PET and PEN according to the type of substrate film. Among them, PI cover film FPC is the most common type of soft board, which can be further subdivided into single-sided PI cover film FPC, double-sided PI cover film FPC, multilayer PI cover film FPC and rigid-flex PI cover film FPC.

PI cover film FPC classification

The popularization of smart terminals drives the outbreak of the FPC industry

Circuit boards are usually divided into two categories, one is rigid circuit boards and the other is flexible circuit boards. Rigid circuit boards are mainly used in household appliances such as refrigerators. FPC soft boards are initially used as connectors and electronic circuits are used in the market. It's not that big, and it wasn't until Apple's massive application that it gradually became popular in consumer electronics. Apple firmly supports the FPC solution, using as many as 14-16 FPCs in the iPhone, of which 70% are multi-layered and difficult, and the FPC area of the whole machine is about 120cm2; the amount of FPC in iPad, Apple Watch and other products is also All are above 10 yuan.

Under Apple's demonstration effect, Samsung, Huawei, HOV and other mobile phone manufacturers quickly followed up and continued to increase the amount of FPC. The number of FPCs for Samsung mobile phones is about 12-13, and the main suppliers are Korean FPC manufacturers such as Interflex and SEMCO.

In the relatively high-end FPC field of PCBs, FPC flexible circuit boards have become one of the indispensable components of consumer electronic products such as smart phones, medical electronics, and wearables due to their light weight, thin thickness, and good flexibility. The transfer of production capacity is also taking place. At present, the ratio of local FPC output value to global output value has been continuously increasing, from 6.74% in 2005 to 50.97% in 2016. The explosive growth has begun in 2017, and it is expected that the proportion of nearly 70% will be maintained in the future.

Domestic FPC companies accelerate their technological advancement

At present, the market has higher and higher technical requirements for FPC, for example, the number of layers is increasing, the line width and line spacing are getting narrower, the pore size is getting smaller, and the flexibility is getting higher and higher. The key factor to measure the technical content of FPC products is to look at the line width and line spacing. The current limit can be 25 microns, and the yield of the circuit is guaranteed.

High-end FPC products such as multi-layer FPC, blind buried via FPC, and second-order blind via have also begun to enter the market.

According to the development trend of the wireless mobile communication market, it can be judged that the functional innovation represented by OLED, 3D camera, biometrics, wireless charging, etc., and the upcoming 5G era will comprehensively increase the penetration rate of FPC in smart models, as well as flexible smart wearable products and The growth of automotive electronics also brings new growth space for FPC.

As far as China is concerned, it is imperative that local high-quality manufacturers that have FPC core technology reserves and actively expand production to meet new growth drivers will accelerate their overtaking.