Global Development Trend of 5G PCB

5G Construction Will Drive the Output of High-end PCB

After the issuance of 5G official license, the market space of base station laying will be accelerated, which will drive the output of high-end PCB such as high frequency, high speed and multi-layer upstream. It is predicted that the total investment space of PCB brought by domestic 5G macro station construction will be about 30 billion yuan, and the incremental space of PCB industry for communication and credit is expected to reach its peak between 2022 and 2023.The 5G construction greatly expands the downstream application scene, and the terminal PCB has a good prospect.

5G Pulls PCB Industry from Base Station to Terminal Application

Base stations and intelligent terminals and other industries have provided growth impetus for the PCB industry. 5G penetrates into terminal equipment from base station construction, and the communication PCB used in base station benefits first, with volume and price rising simultaneously. The terminal equipment and AR/VR equipment soon afterwards generate power, and the quantity and price rise simultaneously; automotive and industrial control demand synchronous outbreak. 5G pulls PCB industry from base station to terminal application, spanning the entire cycle of 5G. PCB for communication, terminal and automobile will become the driving force of PCB industry.

5G PCB Will Have Better Transmission and Heat Dissipation Performance

In 5G era, PCB used in base stations will tend to be more multi-layer and highly integrated design. In addition to structural changes, 5G will have larger data volume, higher transmission frequency and higher working frequency band, which will require the base stations use PCB that have better transmission performance and heat dissipation performance. Therefore, the electronic substrate used for 5G PCB needs to be higher frequency, higher transmission speed and better heat resistance.

5G Application Scenarios

Base stations in 5G era have been adjusted to a certain extent compared with 4G, BBU is split into CU (certain unit) and DU (distributed unit) and it is beneficial to realize multi-connection, collaboration of high and low frequency, and simplify switching process. The CU of several base stations can be merged together or separated. Antenna and RRU can become an AAU to complete signal transceiving, scaling, filtering, photoelectric conversion and other work.

The Price of PCB Will Not Drop Too Much

Considering the current market situation, and considering the improvement of the performance requirements for high frequency and high speed, the price of PCB will not drop too much in a short time.

Market Competition Pattern

At present, there are more than 2800 PCB enterprises in the world, mainly concentrated in China mainland, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the United States and Europe. Among them, Japan is the world's largest PCB factory, including high-order HDI board, packaging substrate, high-rise flexible board. The United States has retained the development and production of high-complexity PCB, and the products are mainly high-end multilayer boards. PCB enterprises in South Korea and Taiwan also focus on high value-added packaging substrate and HDI board products. There is a certain gap between the overall technical level of products in Mainland China and other regions. However, with the rapid expansion of the industrial scale, the upgrading process of PCB industry in Mainland China has been accelerated, and the production capacity of high-end products has been greatly improved.