Taiwan's PCB maker Apex International, with main manufacturing operations in Thailand, expects to enjoy a particularly strong first-half 2021, but it is facing challenges from tight capacity and rising mterials costs, according to industry sources.
Orders for 3C and automotive applications have kept coming in since fourth-quarter 2020, apart from big orders from Samsung Electronics for miniLED TV backlight boards, sending all its manufacturing lines running at full capacity, in turn posing challenges to its capacity management and shipment scheduling for first-half 2021, the sources said.
The company will not ready new capacity until its new plant completes equipment installation for volume production in the third quarter of the year, the sources said.
The new plant will be mainly for producing automotive PCBs with over six layers now being made at an existing plant, whose capacity will then be used to fulfill extra orders for other applications, the sources added.
In 2021, Apex will focus more on production of miniLED backlight boards and automotive PCBs, both with higher gross margins, and will adjust production and shipment schedules for consumer electronics applications in accordance with actual order momentum, the sources said.
As the sole supplier of miniLED TV backlight boards for Samsung, Apex has started volume production since fourth-quarter 2020, with its yield rates already improving to over 90%, the sources said, stressing that shipments of such boards to support Samsung's miniLED TV production lines in Vietnam will provide the largest growth momentum for Apex in 2021.
Apex has also landed big orders for PCBs with high ASP from a new major automotive electronics vendor, and expects the revenue contribution ratio for automotive PCBs to ramp up in 2021. But actual shipments to the segment may be affected by shortages of automotive chips, the sources said.
Apex is also facing mounting costs for upstream CCL materials, and shortages at CCL makers who can now only offer fixed-amounts to the company per month, the sources said.
The company's 2020 revenues rose 13.9% on year to NT$11.833 billion (US$422.61 million), and net earnings expanded 44.9% on year to NT$1.204 billion.
