FCCL Firms Eye Orders from China Handset Vendors for Growth

Estimated reading time: 1 minute

Taiwan-based FPCB materials suppliers Asia Electronic Materials (AEM) and Taiflex Scientific, after experiencing lackluster revenue performances in the first quarter of 2019, expect more orders from Chinese smartphone clients to drive their revenue growth in the remaining quarters of the year, according to Digitimes.

Both firms are dedicated to producing FCCL (flexible copper clad laminate) and CL (coverlay). AEM saw its revenues for the first quarter decline 2.69% on year to NT$370 million (US$11.98 million), while Taiflex witnessed its corresponding figure plunge 31.35% on year to NT$1.373 billion, mainly driven by weak sales of new iPhone devices in the first quarter.

AEM pointed out that China handset vendors still expect double-digit growths in their shipments for 2019 and they are also actively proceeding with deployments of 5G smartphones, which will help boost demand for CL and FCCL products and drive the firm's revenue increases in 2019 and beyond, Digitimes reports. Taiflex, meanwhile, expects the first wave of demand for new FCCL materials from China to appear in the second half of 2019, when Chinese handset vendors are expected to release more 5G smartphone models.