News Briefing 
　　The research institute IC Insights released its latest report on April 13, indicating that IC product shipments around the world will reach 391.8 billion sets in 2021, a significant increase of 21.6% compared with those of 2020. The shipments of IC product worldwide are expected to reach 427.7 billion sets in 2022, with much hope that the figure will continue to soar to new highs.

Impact Analysis 
　　Chip sales are highly correlated with the end product market and reflect the comprehensive information on product shipments, as well as the degree of electronization. The growth rate of 9.2% suggests that the overall terminal product market will continue to sustain small growth in 2022, and while the sales momentum of smartphones and PCs will weaken, HPC and automotive electronics should persistently move towards higher-value development, with the scenario changing from that of last year as all products had soared then. Significant reduction in overall momentum in 2022 will also be reflected in actual performance and overall atmosphere compared to the growth rate of 21.6% from the previous year. After the industry experienced a boom in 2021, adjusting the industry mindset is suggested.
　　Since PCB is an essential component for electronic products, the context of the overall end product market is an important reference indicator. If we compare the global output value of PCB and chip sales, the growth rates of the two have roughly stayed in sync over the long run. If this observation is a basis for estimation, the growth rate of PCB worldwide in 2022 can still adopt 9.2% as its reference benchmark. Furthermore, we have already witnessed a significant effect on the increase of product value for 5G since its development, and this situation has also been reflected in the output value of PCB in recent years. Therefore, if the higher-value factor is taken into account concurrently, the global output value for PCB is likely to exceed 10%, but the potential impact from such negative factors as the pandemic, geopolitics, and inflation would still have to be dealt with cautiously.