PCB News - 5G expands FPC flexible circuit board market space

5G expands the FPC market space, and the demand for electromagnetic shielding increases

When electronic devices are working, they neither want to be interfered by external electromagnetic waves, nor do they want radiated electromagnetic waves to interfere with external devices and cause radiation damage to the human body. Therefore, the propagation path of electromagnetic waves, that is, electromagnetic shielding, must be blocked. The electromagnetic shielding film is made of special materials, and its working principle can be a product that reflects or absorbs electromagnetic waves that effectively block electromagnetic interference. There are three structural forms: conductive adhesive, metal alloy and microneedle conductive adhesive film is a lead-free connection material. It provides mechanical and electrical connections between components and circuit boards. It has the characteristics of high peel strength, good conductivity, good PCB welding resistance, and customized structural design. It is one of the core packaging materials for wireless communication terminals. The direct upstream industries of electromagnetic shielding film and conductive adhesive film are mainly FPC and 40; flexible circuit board, a kind of printed circuit board PCB, with high wiring density, light weight, and thin thickness, The advantages of bendability, high flexibility, other types of circuit boards cannot be matched with 41;

In industry, upstream applications mainly include consumer electronics, automotive electronics and communication equipment. The direct upstream industries of electromagnetic shielding film and conductive adhesive film production capacity have a tendency to shift westward. From the perspective of industrial space, the growth of the FPC market directly determines the growth of related downstream materials. On the one hand, in the era of 5g high-frequency and high-speed communication, there is a demand for high-frequency FPC and the increase in FPC caused by changes in the internal structure of domestic machines. . On the other hand, terminal innovations such as OLED, 3dsensor, and wireless charging will bring new FPC increments, which will help the global FPC output value driven by innovative applications to further expand the products of Apple, the leading company with the largest FPC consumption. After the iPhone 4 came out in 2010, the iPhone series has been increasing FPC consumption. In recent years, the proportion of FPC in the total PCB output value has also increased significantly compared with 2010. Looking forward to the future, 5g and consumer electronics innovation trends will continue, the market space of FPC will be further expanded, and related industry companies will benefit. From the perspective of the industrial structure, thanks to cost advantages and local market demand, the proportion of domestic manufacturers will steadily increase. In the next few years, the output value growth rate of PCB/FPC in mainland China will exceed that of PCB/FPC globally. According to prismark statistics, PCB output value in mainland China accounted for 51% in 2017, which is significantly higher than 38% in 2010. Prismark also predicts that China The comprehensive growth rate of PCB/FPC in mainland China will reach 3.7% in 2017-2022, exceeding the global compound growth rate of 3.2%. The application of 5g new technology will increase the demand for electromagnetic shielding. In the 5g era, the application of massive MIMO and beamforming technology will effectively improve spectrum utilization and communication quality. However, the significant increase in the number of antennas and the significant reduction in antenna size have put forward higher requirements for the anti-interference performance of the high frequency band, and at the same time, the 5g frequency band is expected to exceed 6GHz in the future. In order to support the high frequency band beyond 6GHz, a new wireless access technology, 5GNR, is needed, which will coexist with the LTE technology that supports less than 6GHz. When two transceiver chain systems work at the same time, mutual interference will occur under the combination of multiple frequency bands, which puts forward new requirements for electromagnetic shielding materials. Among electronic products, FPC is used as the connection line of electronic devices. When the signal transmission line is distributed on the outermost layer of FPC, it mainly plays the role of conducting current and transmitting signal. In order to avoid signal distortion caused by electromagnetic interference during signal transmission, FPC will press a layer of conductive layer & 40; electromagnetic shielding film & 41; after pressing the cover film, it will play a role in shielding external electromagnetic interference. It is expected that in the 5g era, the coverage area and usage of electromagnetic shielding film will continue to increase, so as to better reduce Electromagnetic interference.