Taiwan makers of flexible copper clad laminate (FCCL) and coverlay, materials for flexible PCBs, are gearing up to develop new material solutions and build new production lines to cash in on huge demand for FPCBs for 5G smartphones, according to a Digitimes report.
Among them, Taiflex Scientific has completed preparations for volume production of newly developed heterogeneous modified polyimide (PI) materials, although downstream clients have yet to show clear willingness to incorporate the new materials. Taiflex is building new production lines at its plant in Nantong, China's Jiangsu Province, with construction to be completed in the third quarter of 2019 for trial runs in the fourth quarter. This is expected to enable the company to embrace the first wave of explosive demand for new 5G materials in 2020.
Another major maker, Asia Electronic Materials (AEM) is also constructing a new fab in Dongtai, also in Jiangsu Province, which will accommodate a maximum of 10 production lines. The company is set to start the first-stage trail runs of the new facilities in August 2019.