CCL demand for 5G base station applications in the US and Europe are not expected to take off until 2022 at the earliest, according to industry sources.
Despite a slowdown in 5G infrastructure construction in China amid tough US trade sanctions on Huawei, China will still command a 70% share of global demand for 5G network equipment in 2021, the sources said. But the share will slip to about 60% in 2022 as a result of construction accelerating in non-China markets, the sources noted.
The sources said that sub-6GHz networks will remain the mainstream in 5G infrastructure construction in 2021-2022, as mmWave applications are just at a starting stage in the US and it will take time for related networks to be built.
Europe's telecom equipment vendors Ericsson and Nokia are stepping up their efforts on cost control and technology development, and Samsung Electronics is also deepening its deployments in overseas markets, bringing business opportunities for Taiwan's major CCL makers such as Elite Material (EMC), Iteq and Taiwan Union Technology (TUC), the sources said.
EMC has outraced peers in building business ties with European telecom equipment vendors; Iteq has joined the supply chain of Samsung apart from serving China's ZTE and European clients; and TUC is now engaged in cooperative development of CCL materials for 5G antenna applications with clients in Europe and China, the sources added.
