Taiwan has more than 30 listed makers of printed circuit boards, according to Bloomberg data.
Compeq plans to exit the motherboard business and shift to production of boards for products that still enjoy growing demand such as digital cameras and hand-held computers.
"Overcapacity continues, and there's no sign the situation will improve," Lin said. "Companies in the US and Taiwan will go bankrupt."
Even if some of the second-tier companies close plants, there will still be overcapacity, Lin said. Some printed circuit-board makers in China are continuing to increase capacity, which may lead to prices declining further, he said.
In the printed circuit-board business, Compeq may scale back operations in Taiwan and Salt Lake City, Utah, and move some production to China to help cut costs. The market in China has grown, yet global demand still remains flat, the company said.
Standard Life's Teverson sees electronics demand recovering "gradually through the remainder of 2002 and into 2003."
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