Overview of the Global Printed Circuit Board Market

①Market size

The PCB industry is the largest industry in terms of output value among the global electronic component sub-sectors. PCB products are widely used in various fields such as communication, computers, consumer electronics, automotive electronics, servers, industrial control, military and aviation, and medical care, and are indispensable components in modern electronic products. With the deepening of research and development and the continuous upgrading of technology, PCB products are gradually developing towards high density, small aperture, large capacity and thinness and lightness.

Meanwhile, the vigorous development of fields such as 5G communication, new energy vehicles, the Internet of Things, smart home, and wearable devices has brought a new round of development cycle to the PCB industry. According to Prismark's statistics, in 2019, due to weak macroeconomic performance, the Sino-US trade war and geopolitical impacts, the total output value of the global PCB industry was approximately 61.311 billion US dollars, a decrease of 1.74% compared with the previous year. In 2020, as the macroeconomy began to recover in the second quarter, the demand for PCBS in fields such as semiconductor packaging, data centers, personal computers, automobiles and high-end consumer electronics rose rapidly, driving the global PCB industry's total output value to increase by 6.37% compared with the previous year, with a total output value of approximately 65.119 billion US dollars.

In 2021, the global PCB market witnessed significant growth. Driven by sectors such as mobile phones, personal computers, and automotive electronics, the global PCB market size reached 80.92 billion US dollars in 2021, with an increase of 24.1%. In 2022, the global PCB market size was 81.74 billion US dollars. The growth slowed down and the growth rate was only 1.0%. According to Prismark's prediction, the global PCB output value is expected to reach 101.559 billion US dollars by 2026.

②Market Distribution

The PCB industry is widely distributed around the world. Developed countries in Europe and America started early, developed and fully utilized advanced technical equipment, and thus the PCB industry has achieved considerable development. With the global industrial center shifting to Asia, the PCB industry is presenting a new pattern with Asia, especially the Chinese mainland, as the manufacturing center. Since 2006, the Chinese mainland has surpassed Japan to become the world's largest PCB production base, with both the output and output value of PCBS ranking first in the world.

③Development Trend

With the gradual recovery of the global economy, the development speed of many fields such as 5G communication, new energy vehicles, the Internet of Things, smart home and wearable devices has accelerated. Against this backdrop, the demand for PCBS, especially high multi-layer printed circuit boards with special types and special boards, will remain strong. According to Prismark's forecast, the global PCB industry's output value will continue to grow steadily in the coming period. It is expected that the compound annual growth rate from 2021 to 2026 will be 4.6%, and the global PCB industry's output value will reach 101.559 billion US dollars in 2026.

According to Prismark's forecast, in the next five years, Asia will continue to dominate the development of the global PCB market, while China's core position will become more stable.

④ Global PCB segmented product structure

From the perspective of the PCB product segmentation structure, ordinary multi-layer boards occupy the mainstream position in PCB products. In 2021, the output value of multi-layer boards was the highest, approximately 31.053 billion US dollars, accounting for 38.37%. With the rapid development of technology in the electronic circuit industry, terminal application products are showing a trend of miniaturization and intelligence. The market demand for high-density, high-multi-layer, and high-tech PCB products will become more prominent. Products with higher technological content such as high-multi-layer boards, HDI boards, and packaging substrates will grow at a faster rate, and their proportion in the PCB industry will further increase in the future. According to Prismark's forecast, from 2021 to 2026, the compound annual growth rate of packaging substrates and HDI boards will be significantly higher than that of other sub-products.

⑤ Global downstream application fields of PCB

The global PCB downstream application market is widely distributed, mainly including communication, computer, consumer electronics, automotive electronics, industrial control, military aviation, medical and other fields. Communication, computer, consumer electronics and automotive electronics are important application fields of PCB products, among which communication and computer account for a relatively large proportion, approximately 65%.