news briefing As pointed out by statistics released by the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA) on August 20, the output of printed circuit boards (PCB) in Japan in June 2021 has increased enormously by 33.6% from that of the same month the previous year to 1.075 million square meters, and it is the fourth consecutive month that displays growth. Besides, output has increased by 38.9% to JPY55.40 billion, showing growth for the 10th consecutive month, whereas the growth rate has reached double-digits (over 10%) for the 9th consecutive month, and it marks the largest increase in over 11 years (a huge increase of 45.9% since March 2020). impact analysis Much the same as the growth factors of the PCB industry in Taiwan this year, the Japanese PCB industry has also been driven by demands from semiconductor, notebook, and automotive markets, bringing so rare a boom that has been witnessed for these years. In the post-epidemic era, a new life model as "distance work" and "distance learning" has emerged, and it has, in turn, triggered the demands for personal computers and 5G-related applications (5G mobile phones, IoT). As such, the revenue growth for manufacturers such as Ibiden and Shinko, which mainly rely on IC substrate, has been quite strong, their growth rate is found at 43.8% and 33.2% respectively in the first half of this year. With gradual recovery of the automotive market around the world in the first half of this year, Meiko and CMK as manufacturers that mainly rely on automotive dashboards are also able to come out of recession and have begun to restore their growth momentum. According to the final accounts released by major Japanese board manufacturers in the fiscal year 2020, flexible boards are, after re-organized stats, currently acknowledged as the largest product category in terms of PCB output value for Japan, accounting for 46.3%, whereas substrate, the second-largest PCB product in terms of output value, accounted for 33.7%. For the summation of these top two products, they would have already accounted for 80% of the total output value, and their primary application categories are smartphones, personal computers, and automotive electronics. As seen, the Japanese PCB industry has turned to high-end and high-value development, and it is why the Japanese PCB industry can benefit from this wave of dividends from the boom in the semiconductor industry.