TPCA (Taiwan Printed Circuit Association) announced the production and sales statistics in Q3 2019. According to the statistics, the production value of Taiwanese PCB companies across straits in Q3 2019 amounts to NT$ 185.7 billion (approx. US$ 5.9 billion). It increases by 1.7%, when compared to NT$ 182.6 billion in the same quarter last year. Taiwanese companies’ overseas production ratio in Mainland China is approx. 63.6% and their production value throughout 2019 is estimated to be NT$ 656.2 billion.
　　TPCA indicates that the total production value of the Taiwanese PCB industry across straits in the third quarter amounts to NT$ 185.7 billion, which is better than expected. This is because the final demand increases in the second half of the year, especially the demand for the smartphone. In the third quarter, the total global shipment declined by 3.2%. For other products, the demand for Bluetooth earphones and the “three” phone lens or above which evolve from “two” phone lens drives the growth of the rigid-flex boards to a YoY rate of 53.5% and the production value ratio increase to 4.1% from 2.7% in the same period of last year. The demand for IC carriers also increases with the semiconductor demand. The demand for high-end computing applications (such as base stations, AI, GPU, etc.) remain strong while the demand for ABF carriers increases. Moreover, the smartphone sales in the third quarter remain the same on a year-on-year basis and the demand for BT carriers does not fall and their annual growth rate is 8.0% with the second-best performance. For automobile PCB, while the intelligent and electrified automobile applications drive the demand for automobile PCB, such as that for radar applications, the overall sales of the global cars decline this year, and their sales did not improve in the third quarter.
　　With several uncertain factors around the world, Taiwanese PCB industry’s production value of Q2 and Q3 in 2019 not only is better than expected, but also increases on a year-on-year basis. This makes the annual production value in 2019 increase to NT$ 656.2 billion with a slightly better performance. In 2020, with the advent of the 5G era, the large bandwidth, high transmission, and late latency will become mainstream which in turn drives the revolution of smart mobile devices, smart factories, and B2B as well as B2C applications, and boost the demand for various end products. It is expected to see the debut of 5G-related applications and flourishing growth of end-user products. Before dawn comes, the Taiwanese PCB industry must face many technology barriers and challenges such as those about materials and high product dependency. Relevant industries must be well prepared to occupy an important place in the 5G business opportunities.