As the global economy slowly recovers, emerging markets like India, the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand are progressing. In China prices of PCB raw materials continue to rise, as is the capacity for better environment protection and energy saving. "Made in China" has lost its low-cost advantage, resulting in slower development speed and inferior quality.
PCB is manufactured across Mainland China and the country remains the largest PCB manufacturing site worldwide. In 2014, total global PCB output value rose to $57.4 billion, an increase of 2.3% year-on-year. China contributed $26.1 billion to that total, a year-on-year increase of 6%. This ranked the country first worldwide in terms of growth. Currently, the total value of local and foreign-funded PCB companies in China is 45.5% of the global value, i.e. almost half of the total worldwide – a clear demonstration of the obvious benefits. However, in the global PCB industry structure, although the "Made-in-China" brand bears the hope of a nation, the brand suffers from poor perceptions globally, holding a low to middle position that means the country struggles to shake the tag of merely being where "big commissions are processed".
Another factor is that China's PCB industry mainly covers the low to middle range (dominated by double-sided and multi-layer boards), with few types of products, lack of innovation drive and a growing gap between developed and developing countries. On the basis of 2013, the output value of domestic multi-layer boards in 2014 rose 3.9%, and that of single-/double-sided boards rose 2.1%. These are mainly applied in the fields of PC, NB, communication and consumer electronics. The output value of HDI board, mainly applied in cellphones and other mobile terminal products, rose 2.1%. Despite of a rise in demand for various PCBs, the growth of flexible circuit boards and IC substrates is sluggish, still lagging behind that of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and other countries/regions.
Due to the entry of a number of Mainland China manufacturers into the industry, competition on price has intensified, making the receipt of orders a frequent problem for PCB factories. In an ever-changing market, sellers are required to collaborate to explore new competitive advantages and link these to buyer demand. Shenzhen is now global PCB sourcing center, although many PCB factories are moving out from Shenzhen or even Guangdong, Shenzhen is promoting the upgrade of the PCB industry from manufacturing to services. A reliable PCB sourcing information channel & platform, which attracts a comprehensive array of suppliers and high-quality buyers, will finally realize long-term development industry wide.