Flexible circuit board (FPC) conforms to the development theme of lightweight and miniaturization, and in recent years has become the leader of the PCB sub-industry.  Haitong Securities believes that the FPC industry will have long-term growth potential.  

FPC leads the PCB industry  

In the trend of development of electronic products to light and miniaturization, PCB has been promoted from rigid to flexible.  FPC has the characteristics of thin, flexible, winding, folding and high wiring density, which perfectly fits the development theme of thinness and miniaturization. In recent years, FPC has become the leader of PCB subdivision industry.  

FPC industry is dominated by Japan, the United States and Korea. In recent years, the increase of production cost has promoted the focus of FPC industry to gradually shift to China. At present, the output value of PCB in China is the first in the world, and the annual compound growth rate is higher than other parts of the world.  

FPC is located in the middle and upper reaches of the electronics industry chain. Its direct raw material is flexible copper clad plate FCCL in the upstream and terminal consumer electronics in the downstream.  At present, Japanese enterprises occupy the absolute dominant position in the upstream of the industrial chain with the first-mover advantage, and the pattern will not change in the short and medium term. China started late and is relatively in a weak position. In recent years, the upstream manufacturers have benefited from the shift of the FPC industry's focus to China, and the upstream manufacturers have a positive demand for technological breakthroughs, which is expected to gradually break the pattern of foreign monopoly.  

The downstream application field is wide  

Downstream applications for the FPC include smartphones, but also tablets, automotive electronics, wearables, drones, and more.  

Smart phones are the main application area of FPC, and the mass production of flexible mobile phones in the future is expected to make the FPC market achieve explosive growth.  The global growth rate of tablet PC is stable, but the domestic penetration rate is low. With the increase of the share of domestic manufacturers, there is still a lot of room for FPC to improve in tablet PC.  The growing demand for body sensors and displays in smart cars is expected to increase the demand for FPC, the need for bendable and thin PCBS to fit wearable devices, and the need for thin and thin PCBS for drones are all boosting the development of the FPC industry. 

Source: Public Securities News