Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

EPTE Newsletter from Japan: 2013 Printed Circuit Industry

It’s hard to believe that December has arrived and that in just a few weeks we will be welcoming in 2014! Third quarter market data for the PWB industry is now available, allowing us to review market trends for the last three quarters and project sales for 2014.

Volume and sales vary between regions, but let’s start with Japan. Japan had a very bad start this year. Revenue for January and February were dismal compared with the same period last year and 2012 was almost as bad as the year of the worldwide recession in 2008 (one of the worst years for the PWB industry). The year started off so badly that some of us feared a total collapse for the Japanese PWB Industry. Fortunately, business improved slowly and shipments for September were almost equal to shipments during September 2012. Unfortunately, year-to-date shipments are still down 20% compared with the same period of time last year.

If we break down each segment, rigid boards performed the best--they were “only” down 15% year over year, while flexible and module circuits declined more than 25%. Since no significant spike in sales was reported for the last two months, we can forecast that total shipments will come in between $4.6 and $4.8 billion. This will be the first year in the twenty-first century that sales are below $5. This is due to a decline in consumer electronic sales that include cellular phones, personal computers, flat TVs, and digital cameras. Unfortunately, forecasts from the Japanese consumer electronics industry point toward more of the same in 2014.

Sales from PWB manufacturers in North America and Europe varied month to month during 2013. It looks like shipments will post between a 2% and 5% decline. The bulk of their business comes from the industrial, medical, and aerospace industries. We are predicting that business for our North American and European peers will remain flat in 2014.

Taiwan is the global leader for the PWB industry. The lion’s share of business for them comes from personal computers. Business was shaky since the fourth quarter of 2012 due to slumping sales from the PC market. However, Taiwanese PWB manufacturers found other avenues of business from smart phones and tablet PCs--enough to give them a significant rebound in sales for the last two quarters. They remain conservative with forth quarter forecasts and predict that annual shipments will be slightly below the previous year.

Taiwan may not be the leader in the region for 2013. The region includes China, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea. Taiwanese and Japanese manufacturers outsourced a lot of business to China and other Asian countries. The majority of production is completed in Korea. The regions leaders in the PWB industry may come in this order: China, Korea, Taiwan, and Japan. Once all data is disseminated for 2013, we will communicate the results in a follow-up newsletter.

Dominique K. Numakura, dnumakura@dknresearch.com DKN Research, www.dknresearchllc.com

*To past issues of the newsletter, click here.

Headlines of the Week

(Please contact haverhill@dknreseach.com for further information on the news.)1. Toppan Forms (Major printing company in Japan) 11/19The company has developed a new silver printing process with a very low firing temperature (80 degrees C) using silver salt ink. Conductor resistance is 6 micro ohm*cm.2. Panasonic (Major electronics company in Japan) 11/28The company has terminated its ALIVH and ISB printed circuit business.3. Marubeni (Major trading company in Japan) 12/2The company has unveiled a new conductive fiber coated with carbon nanotube. It will create light and flexible conductive clothes.|4. Tanaka Metal (Specialty metal supplier in Japan) 12/3The supplier has co-developed a new fine-line printing process using sub-micron gold powder. The conductors are bondable at 200 degrees C and heat resistant at 300 degrees C.5. Denso (Major automobile electronics supplier in Japan) 12/3The supplier has developed a new greenhouse control system for agriculture businesses. It will optimize energy efficiency by controlling greenhouse conditions.6. Sekisui Chemical (Major chemical company in Japan) 12/3The company has developed a new film-type lithium ion battery with large capacity and introducing a coating process that increases productivity by 10 times.7. Mitsubishi Material (Major material supplier in Japan) 12/5The supplier has developed a new thick copper direct bonded aluminum (DBA) substrate for next-generation power modules.8. Sekisui Chemical (Major chemical company in Japan) 12/5The company has successfully built a new type of DSSC base photovoltaic cell available at room-temperature process. 9. E Ink (e-paper supplier in Taiwan) 12/6The supplier has begun volume production of “Fina,” a new type of thin and light e-paper built on an extremely thin glass substrate.

10.  DIGITIMES (Industrial media in Taiwan) 12/6The organization forecasts 213 million units for global shipment of LCD TV IN 2014, up 4.6% from the previous year. The FIFA World Cup will push demand.

Recent Articles from DKN Research

To view a full list of articles, click here.