Consumer electronics and mobile
applications drive manufacturers to operate at full capacity
ISuppli's "Latest
Information on Component Price Tracking" magazine investigated the growing demand for printed
circuit boards (PCBs) due to strong orders in the mobile communications and consumer electronics
markets.
Driven by the strong demand of mobile phones, laptops, LCD TVs and
video game consoles, PCB sales have surged since the fourth quarter of 2005. Many PCB manufacturers
have achieved full load operation, but they still cannot meet the customer's order demand, which
made the PCB industry provide outstanding performance in 2006.
During 2006, the price
of copper, the main raw material for PCB, kept rising, but it stabilized in December. ISuppli forecasts
that copper prices will remain stable in the first half of 2007.
Many copper clad
laminate (CCL) manufacturers raised the CCL price by 10% to 15% to pass on the rising copper price
pressure in 2006. As most PCB manufacturers cannot afford this extra cost, the board price continued to
rise in 2006, and iSuppli expects its price to continue to grow to the end of the first half of
2007.
Chart 1 shows the Asian contract pricing trend of a product
representing PCB pricing trend: 8-layer epoxy resin impregnated glass cloth (FR4) printed circuit
board, line width+5/5mm
Chart 1: Asian contract pricing trend of eight layer epoxy
resin impregnated glass cloth PCB (line width+5/5mm)
Source: iSuppli in January
Although the first quarter is usually the slowest season in the whole year, many PCB
manufacturers still achieved full load operation, which means that 2007 will become the peak period of
PCB industry development.
(Editor：admin)
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