PCB News - Smartphones are fiercely promoting the growth of FPC factories to record new records

Smartphones are fiercely promoting the growth of FPC factories to record new records
Due to the growth in demand for smartphones,PCB soft-boardmakers' profit performance in the first half of the year was outstanding. The growth rate of soft-board makers set a new record, generally growing compared to the same period last year, including upstream related material PI factories and flexible copper foil substrate factories (FCCL). Even with rain and dew, profits in the first half of the year were better than those of the same period last year. Looking ahead to this quarter, smartphones are still the main driving force. The visibility of orders is currently high, and operations are expected to continue to rise this season.

FPC manufacturers have performed outstandingly this year, and their profits have grown compared to the same period last year. Damai, the only PI factory, also announced a semi-annual report. The net profit after tax in the first half of the year was 138 million yuan, and the net profit per share was 1.18 yuan. The profit was higher than the same period last year. The growth rate was 21.05%, and the average gross profit margin in the first half of the year was 35.62%, which was the highest in the upstream and downstream supply chain of soft boards.

In addition to smart phones as the driving force for growth, the industry pointed out that although the price of Ultrabook is still high, it will eventually touch the sweet spot of price. Ultrabook is thin and light, and the amount of soft board should not be underestimated. With second- and third-tier smart phone factories and Ultrabooks driving consumption, the soft board industry will not easily oversupply in the short term.

As demand heats up, upstream manufacturers of FPC have also increased their production steps. Take the flexible copper foil layer as an example. In the past, the FCCL factory in Taiwan only expanded one line in an average of two years. The current expansion frequency is increasing. Korean manufacturers Production has also been substantially expanded, and there has been a rare upsurge of simultaneous expansion.

Judging from the published financial report, the soft board factory ranked first in profit per share at 3.68 yuan in Taiwan County; the annual profit growth rate was temporarily ranked first at 153% of F-Zhending. As for the profit year in Taiwan County The growth rate is also as high as 55%, but Taihong's annual profit growth rate was only 4.3% due to the poor solar backsheet market in the first half of the year.

As Apple’s iPhone 5 is expected to be released on the 12th of next month, and a large number of shipments will begin in October, the revenue of related FPC factories has gradually increased. Apple has won Samsung’s profitable blessing, and a statement will be held in Taiwan on Monday. Yes, the legal person expects that the FPC factory of Apple's concept will have the opportunity to make a statement this week.

The much-anticipated iPhone 5 rumor will be launched in September. The sub-groups of soft boards, lenses, PA (power amplifiers) in Taiwan’s supply chain are particularly concerned by the market. Jialianyi's consolidated revenue in July grew 29% and 14% from June, while Zhending increased slightly by 2%. Taiwan's soft board-related supply chain reached its peak in the third quarter, and its August performance is expected to be even brighter.

Apple is the world’s largest purchaser of soft boards. Many of its hot-selling electronic products use a large number of soft boards. The purchase targets include Japanese, Taiwanese, Korean and other industries. The largest purchase volume is especially from Japanese companies. However, Taiwanese companies have a cost advantage., Coupled with the shrinking technology level, the market share has gradually increased; for the flexible board industry, the short-term new product launch season will benefit the long-term growth of the industry and the increase in Taiwan's market share, which has become the main betting target for legal persons.

Taishin Investment Researcher Zhu Yuzheng said that the PCB (printed circuit board) industry is relatively optimistic about the growth of the FPC industry. The FPC industry benefits from the rise of mobile devices, which will drive the overall output value to grow by 10%. The rate is expected to further increase, and the performance will be better than the growth of the overall FPC industry. There are three main reasons: First, according to Gartner’s estimates, the shipments of smartphones and tablet computers will reach 790 million and 120 million units this year, with an annual growth rate. These are 26% and 91%, respectively.

Secondly, the content of soft boards in smart phones and tablet computers is higher than that of general electronic products. Smart phones use 5-12 pieces of soft boards, 1-5 pieces higher than that of functional phones, and 10-20 pieces of tablet computers are also higher than NB. 5-8 pieces, the output value of soft boards for each smart phone and tablet computer is about 2-3 times that of feature phones and NB. Therefore, the rise of mobile devices has pushed up the output value of FPC, and the proportion of smartphones and tablet computers in the overall FPC output value is estimated to increase from 45% in 2011 to 48%, driving the overall FPC industry to grow by 9.8% annually.

In addition, in the past, most FPCs were dominated by Japanese companies. In recent years, Taiwanese and Korean FPC factoriesnot only have an advantage over Japanese manufacturers in their cost structure, but also have gradually caught up with their technical level, and their market share has gradually increased. To open up opportunities for Taiwanese FPC manufacturers, about 95% of the production capacity of Fujikura, a large PCB manufacturer, is located in Thailand. It is estimated that the previous production capacity will be restored by the end of this year due to severe damage. In the past, high-end FPCs were mostly used by Japanese factories, and customers after floods The transfer of orders for some high-end FPCs to single makers will help Taiwan makers increase their market share.