Taiwanese PCB Industry Enters ‘Wait-and-See’ Mode
TAOYUAN, TAIWAN – The Taiwanese PCB industry grew 9.6% year-over-year in the third quarter, reaching NT227 billion ($7 billion), the Taiwan Printed Circuit Association reported in December.
The association said the quarter was mainly driven by the peak season effect, the mild recovery of mainstream terminal products, as well as the specification upgrades of AI infrastructure (such as servers and network communication equipment) and the boost from the low-orbit satellite market.
Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, lower-than-expected sales of Apple phones and the uncertainty of global markets are driving a strong wait-and-see sentiment, TPCA said. Terminal and downstream enterprises remain conservative in stocking, and the overall growth momentum is restricted.
Taiwanese enterprises are expected to have global output value in the fourth quarter of NT$209 billion ($6.4 billion), a decline of 1.2% compared with the same period last year. The estimated total output value in 2024 will still reach NT$808 billion ($24.8 billion), however, an increase of 5% compared with 2023.
Overall, global production of circuit boards of Taiwanese companies is forecast to expand 5.7% in 2025, with total output reaching NT$854 billion ($26.2 billion).
For the quarter, Taiwanese PCB sales were mainly distributed among communications (37%), computers (21.8%), semiconductors (17.7%), automobiles (11.4%), consumer electronics (8%) and others (4.1%). Among them, the semiconductor sector witnessed the most prominent growth, driven by demand for AI chips and high-bandwidth memory HBM. Communication products output continued to increase due to demand for network communication products extended by low-orbit satellites and AI servers. Although sales in the PC market were lower than expected, demand for AI servers and general servers supported growth in the computer application category. Rapid inventory replenishment in the previous two years, combined with weakened demand and the base effect, has slowed automotive growth. Meanwhile, consumer products sales remained sluggish.
In terms of PCBs, multilayer boards (30%), flex circuits (24%), HDI boards (19.6%) and IC substrates (17.7%) made up the largest segments. Demand for IC substrates remained strong. Driven by demand for servers, ADAS for high-frequency applications and low-orbit satellites, HDI boards also showed good growth. Multilayer boards leaned on AI demand for growth, and network communication products required for the extension of infrastructure drove growth for multilayer boards due to architecture or usage upgrades. In contrast, flexible circuits demand was relatively weak in the quarter.
Hot Takes
Global sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment by OEMs are forecast to set an industry record, reaching $113 billion in 2024 and growing 6.5% year-over-year. China, Taiwan and Korea are expected to remain the top three destinations for equipment spending through 2026. (SEMI)
Some 46% of component suppliers expect electronics parts sales to grow in the first quarter, while 7% expect a decline. (ECIA)
Global demand for AI and high-performance computing will continue to rise, driving the semiconductor market to grow over 15% in 2025. (IDC)
Notebook shipments are projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 4% from 2024 to 2029. (DigiTimes)
The global market for personal computing devices, including PCs and tablets, is set to grow 3.8% in 2024, reaching 403.5 million units. (IDC)
The hardcopy peripheral market rebounded in the third quarter, rising 3.8% year-over-year to approximately 20.3 million units shipped, following five consecutive quarters of YoY declines. (IDC)
Global semiconductor revenues surged in the third quarter, climbing 25% year-over-year to $177.8 billion. (Omdia)
Brazil’s electrical and electronics industry is entering 2025 cautiously optimistic, with electronic components projected to grow 29% after a double-digit rise to $37.4 billion in 2024. (Abinee)
India’s government wants to achieve $500 billion in electronics production value by 2030 with a plan to get global giants to build scale in the country by focusing on the domestic market and exports.
Worldwide smartphone shipments are forecast to grow 6.2% year-over-year in 2024 to 1.24 billion units. (IDC)
Prices of critical metals such as gallium, germanium and antimony used in electronic components and gadgets have begun to spike as China’s trade restrictions with the US begin to bite. (Bloomberg)
China’s IC output increased 8.7% year-over-year to 37.6 billion units in November. (China National Bureau of Statistics)
North American PCB shipments in November rose 4.7% year-over-year and fell 1.4% sequentially. Bookings were up 29.1% versus last year and down 13.7% from October. (IPC)
North American EMS shipments jumped 10.6% in November from a year ago and 4% from October. Bookings increased 8.1% year-over-year and slid 2.7% from the previous month. (IPC)
