Portable, automotive electronics spur PCB expansion plans

The popularity of compact electronic products is encouraging mainland China makers of PCBs to widen capacity for HDI variants. Currently, smartphones are the major growth driver, with worldwide output estimated to have hit 280 million units in 2010. Supply is expected to increase by 42 percent this year at a penetration rate of 28 percent. Demand from tablet PCs is also rising. Local board providers and even Taiwan companies with factories in the mainland such as Gold Circuit are therefore boosting yield of HDIs. Xing Da Printed Circuit Board Manufacturer will implement expansion plans in June of this year. Shenzhen Yu Wei Electronic Co. Ltd, meanwhile, has already expanded capacity for all PCB types by 80 percent. It has also introduced new high density models and variants with up to 30 layers.

Enterprises are likewise raising turnout of boards meant for automotives because of robust orders for use in vehicles’ power, chassis, control and security systems, and information equipment.

The LED lighting industry is another captive market for PCBs, with annual growth rate estimated to reach 31 percent this year. The substrates used for the circuit boards depend on the target application. Options from the mainland include FR-4, FR-5, CEM-3, heat dissipation via-hole and thermally conductive resin, metal and ceramic types.

Besides expanding output to meet climbing demand, makers are increasing efforts to comply with environmental directives. Xing Da, for instance, had spent $1 million on sewage treatment and water purifying facilities, and follows ISO 14001:2005 regulations.
At present, the mainland and Taiwan collectively account for about half of global PCB supply, and the share is expected to rise in coming years. In fact, more production bases are being constructed in the first, including the Chongqing Fuling industrial zone.