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EPTE Newsletter: Taiwan Printed Circuit Industry Is Shrinking

Taiwan has become the manufacturing powerhouse for the global consumer electronics industry. Their product scope includes personal computers, tablet PCs, smartphones, gaming consoles, digital cameras and more. These broad ranges of products are not only manufactured in Taiwan, but also in Mainland China and other overseas countries.  Their supply chain infrastructure for materials and components is second to none, and the printed circuit industry is a crucial part of the supply chain.

Taiwanese circuit board manufacturers are the primary source for circuit boards since 2010.  For this reason, many analysts consider the Taiwanese to be the barometer when predicting business trends for the global electronics market. Since the turn of the century, total shipments grew year over year with the exception of 2009. Volume continues to grow for the printed circuit industry, but is growing at a slower rate comparing year over year. Last year’s growth was relatively flat, and this year’s growth is at a negative rate compared with last year. Manufacturers for printed circuit materials are posting similar volume trends and are also showing negative growth compared with last year.

The consumer electronics industry has witnessed a phenomenal growth globally since 2009. Why is it shrinking now? Well, all segments within the industry are pretty much saturated and there just isn’t enough demand or innovative products to support double digit growth rates. Personal computer sales are negative, year over year, and sales for tablet PCs, the new face for mobile devices, are slowing to a standstill. Sales for smartphones, once considered the staple for consumer electronics, have slowed to single-digit volume comparing year over year, and will be even lower this year. Digital camera sales continue to shrink by almost 30% every year for obvious reasons. Sales for flat panel TVs, the basic consumer electronics product, will decline this year. Sales for every consumer electronic product are trending downward.

The Taiwanese electronics industry is very resilient and fast to act. They expanded into alternative markets during the last recession. What can they expand into this time? Several companies are looking into the automobile market, and EMS manufacturers are pursuing wearable devices such as the Apple Watch. The Taiwan Printed Circuit Association (TPCA) announced it will send a significant delegation to Japan during the JPCA Show (June 1st – 3rd) in Tokyo Big Sight. This could be very interesting…

Headlines of the week
(Please contact haverhill@dknreseach.com for further information on the news.)

1. Teijin (Major organic material supplier in Japan) 4/26
Has developed a new polycarbonate resin for the optical lens of digital cameras. The new resin has a high refraction rate with a heat resistance.

2. Sumitomo Metal Mining (Major metallic material supplier in Japan) 4/28
Has started a recycling business of scandium, one of the rare earth elements for fuel cell batteries.

3. Panasonic (Major electronics company in Japan) 5/9
Has sold the first vegetable plant system with artificial lighting system for low potassium lettuce.

4. AIST (Major R&D organization in Japan) 5/9
Has developed a prototype model of a new flat panel display without dead angle for public displays.

5. Hitachi (Major electric & electronics company inn Japan) 5/12
Has rolled out a new high speed CO2 laser marker “LM-C300 Series” introducing with a high efficiency cooling system.

6. Nidec (Major device manufacturer in Japan) 5/11
Has developed the world smallest camera module with 16 mega pixels for mobile equipment. 8.8 x 8.5 x 4.2 mm, F1.9.

7. Asahi Kasei (Major chemical company) 5/12
Has commercialized a new deep UV LED device “Klaran” with large capacity for pasteurization equipment. Wavelength: 250–280 nm.

8. Tohoku University (Japan) 5/16
Has developed a new large capacity anode with large organic molecule for all solid state lithium ion batteries.

9. Yamagata University (Japan) 5/17
Has founded a venture company, Future Ink, to commercialize a flexible sensor developed with printing process.

10. Hitachi Chemical (Major electronics material supplier in Japan) 5/17
Has commercialized a new next generation reliable lead battery “Tuflong G3” for idling stop of small automobiles