Taiwan-based PCB manufacturers are expected to see their combined output value reach between NT$756.8 billion (US$27.3 billion) and NT$827.2 billion in 2021, according to the Taiwan Printed Circuit Association (TPCA).
Output value of PCB manufacturing in Taiwan has continued to grow in spite of COVID in the last two years. The industry has gained much more momentum compared to past years, posting a record-high on year increase of 19.3% in the first half of 2021.
In the first half of 2021, the industry reached NT$355.7 billion in output and expects to break NT$800 billion for the whole year altogether if iPhone shipments maintain or go a little above the average level in the coming months, TPCA said.
Most orders have confirmed shipments by year-end, and iPhone is the deciding factor for Taiwan's PCB industry, TPCA said.
According to TPCA, although the PCB industry does not face component shortages firsthand, the industry still sees some hurdles this year as prolonged shortages along the supply chain could still cause delays in PCB deliveries, hence delayed revenue growth. Besides that, CCL supply is not catching up with rising demand.
Overall, demand for servers is expected to hit another high level in the fourth quarter. Edge computing and whitebox server shipments have been steadily growing as well.
PCB continues to upgrade to higher specs as 5G smartphone popularizes. Shipments for iPhones are expected to increase as more of Apple's phones support 5G mmWave.
As for car electronics, although the supply chain sees fluctuations in shipments, high-end applications continue to grow. HDI and FPC have each gained about 2pp as a proportion of the industry's total output.
