The production value of Taiwan’s printed circuit board (PCB) makers is expected to grow 1.5 percent year-on-year this year on the back of rising demand for 5G applications, and remote work and learning, the Taiwan Printed Circuit Association (TPCA) said on Wednesday.
Despite the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy, emerging technologies such as 5G have given the PCB industry a boost, which has in turn led to an increase in demand for base stations, Unimicron Technology Corp (欣興電子) chairman Maurice Lee (李長明), the association’s chairman, said at the TPCA Show in Taipei.
Business opportunities arising from the popularity of online working and remote learning have also pushed up demand for PCBs, Lee said.
Lee said that under such favorable circumstances, the impact of COVID-19 has been minimal, adding that the output generated by Taiwanese firms’ investments across the Taiwan Strait would reach NT$672.1 billion (US$23.25 billion) this year, up 1.5 percent year-on-year.
In the first half of the year, the output rose 3.4 percent annually to NT$298.1 billion, he said.
The aggregate capital expenditure of Taiwanese PCB firms is expected to top NT$100 billion this year, he added.
Major suppliers such as Unimicron, Zhen Ding Technology Holding Ltd (臻鼎科技), Compeq Manufacturing Co (華通電腦) and Unitech Printed Circuit Board Corp (燿華電子) have invested heavily in high-end technologies, and remain upbeat about demand for 5G applications and high-performance computing devices, Lee said.
Zhen Ding chairman Charles Shen (沈慶芳) said that 5G, artificial intelligence and smart manufacturing are expected to help the PCB industry steam ahead next year.
Zhen Ding is a subsidiary of the world’s largest contract electronics maker Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密).
This year, the three-day TPCA Show is being held alongside four other tech expos — Taitronics, AIoT Taiwan, Laser & Photonics Taiwan and Opto Taiwan — at Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center.
At the opening ceremony of the joint exhibition, Vice Premier Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) said that Taiwan is establishing centers for high-end technology, green energy and semiconductor development.
These are expected to drive local industrial development as well as Taiwan’s economy over the next 20 years, he said.
The joint technology show features 800 Taiwanese exhibitors displaying the results of their electronic technology development work at 1,850 booths, the organizers said.
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