Taiwanese PCB output value creates the high record at first half year of 2021

Benefiting from the continuous prosperity of the international electronics industry, the Taiwan Printed Circuit Association (TPCA) announced on September 8 that the output value of Taiwanese PCB industry in Q2 of 2021 reached NT$182.3 billion (approximately US$6.513 billion), and the total value of the first half of the year reached NT$355.7 billion (approximately US$12.621 billion), a record high for the same period over the years, a sharp increase of 19.3% over the same period of the first half of last year of NT$298.1. And it is estimated that the output value of Q3 in 2021 will reach NT$195 billion, and NT$773.8 billion for the year. 

Taiwan-made IC substrate boards output value surged by 22.9%, surpassing the 19.8% of Chinese mainland PCB manufacturer, it can be seen that in recent years, the extended benefits of Taiwanese PCB manufacturers investment in high-end technology in Taiwan have fermented. When further subdividing products, in Taiwan China, except for the continuous decline in the output value of Rigid-Flexible PCB boards, other PCB products type maintained the growth trend of Q1. 

Among them, IC substrates benefit from the strong demand, and under the continuous opening of new production capacity and the driver of markup benefits, revenue has grown substantially, with an annual growth rate of 34.8%, and it is the PCB product that has the most substantial growth rate for the quarter. Multilayer boards, the second largest product in growth rate, benefited from continuously strong notebook orders and the gradual recovery of the automotive market, with an annual growth rate of 18.2 %; This quarter, the growth rates of single sided and double sided boards and HDI also reached 11.5% and 5.5%. As for FPC, the growth rate is not as strong as the previous two quarters due to the slowdown of iPhone demand. But because the demand for laptops, tablets and other computer-related products and automotive electronics are all maintained at a high level, maintaining a revenue growth of 8.3%.

Another data worth paying attention to is that the growth rate of Taiwanese PCB output value in both sides of the strait is showing a reversal! TPCA stated that although the proportion of Taiwanese companies' PCB production in mainland China in Q2 still reached 62.8%, but the growth rate of Taiwan's substrates in Taiwan increased sharply, causing the latter's growth rate to surpass the former's 19.8% by 22.9%. And it shows the extended benefits of Taiwan's investment in high-end technology PCB have begun to ferment, and this phenomenon is expected to continue.

Looking forward to the second half of 2021, TPCA pointed out that in the first half of 2021, Taiwan's PCB industry was disturbed by negative factors such as the Asian epidemic non-slowdown and the tight global supply of raw materials and chips. However, driven by the relevant terminal application market, strong demand for substrates and continuous opening of production capacity and other positive factors, Taiwan's PCB industry is not weak in the off season, and still hand in the best transcript for the first half of 2021 over the years.

However, with the arrival of the traditional peak season in the second half of the year, the output value performance of 2021 has attracted much attention. Some industry practitioners have begun to feel the impact of the global IC chip supply and demand imbalance, not only in automotive applications, but also other electronic products, are also affected by chip supply delivery. Some end-application customers have begun to slow down the speed of shipment in the second half of the year. As a result, the recent PCB production has changed greatly due to the adjustment of the delivery date of various part numbers. Whether the overall terminal market's good phenomenon in the first half of the year can continue into the second half of the year is still worthy of the industry's attention. PCB manufacturers need to pay attention in changes of supply and demand in the PCB supply chain, and retain flexibility in response.