Ultra-Fine-Pitch Solder Paste for FPC: Can FPC Manufacturers Find New Opportinities in the New-Energy Vehicle Market

2022-03-08

Ultra-Fine-Pitch Solder Paste for FPC: Can FPC Manufacturers Find New Opportinities in the New-Energy Vehicle Market

Solder Paste and Ultra-Fine Solder Manufacturer-Shenzhen Fitech is a comprehensive solder paste supplier integrating production, sales, research, and service of solder paste, epoxy solder paste, and solder powder. Fitech is the leading unit for the formulation of solder powder standards of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Fitech's products include ultra-fine lead-free printing solder paste, ultra-fine lead-free dispensing solder paste, ultra-fine lead-free jetting solder paste, ultra-fine lead-free pin transfer solder paste, no-clean solder paste, water-soluble solder paste, high-temperature solder paste, medium-temperature solder paste, low-temperature solder paste, etc. Fitech can manufacture electronic-grade packaging solder powders with particle sizes from T2-T10.

Introduction

The rapid increase in demand for optoelectronics and new-energy vehicles in China will inevitably promote the growth of the industrial chain. It will expand the orders and revenue and introduce more and more product categories when the industrial chain takes on orders. Design, manufacturing, cost control, and other aspects will also be significantly improved. With the increasing variety of downstream terminal brands, the product application fields of circuit boards have begun to develop in a diversified direction.

2020 is the first year of 5G in the industry. The construction of 5G base stations and the release of 5G mobile phones have accelerated. The demand for various circuit boards, such as FPC (flexible circuit boards), has increased significantly. Therefore, many listed companies in the industry chain have invested in and deployed related technologies, products, and production capacity, hoping to raise their performance to a new level. However, it backfired.

A short time ago, Dongshan Precision mentioned in the "Proposal on Changing the Use of Some Raised Funds" that because of 5G communication development bottlenecks and the slowdown in downstream customer demand, Yancheng Dongshan’s wireless module production and construction project Investment failed to meet expectations.

旋转方块1.gif Automotive FPC Demand is Large

In response to the demand in the 5g market, industry insiders mentioned that under the influence of factors such as the epidemic and fluctuations in the price of bulk raw materials in the past two years, the soft board market environment was indeed unsatisfactory. Several large manufacturers suffer poor domestic performance. We believe that the number of orders for 5g-related products has declined, and product profits have dropped.

Jiwei noticed that after the investment in the 5G market was frustrated, many companies began to seek new opportunities through product planning in other fields, among which the field of new-energy vehicles is the most popular.

Currently, under the trend of autonomous driving, digitization, and electrification, the demands for ADAS sensors, intelligent cockpits, electrical systems, battery management systems, and other automotive electronic products are rapidly expanding. The demand for related PCB products is growing at the same time. In the process of smart car development, FPCs have gradually replaced wiring harnesses. Some agencies predict that the cost of FPCs will exceed 100 with the increase in automotive electronics.

Some manufacturers shared their opinions. First, the cost ratio of automotive electronics in automobiles is rising under the development of vehicles. Automotive electronics can be divided into automotive electronics and automotive electronics. After the automotive FPCs gradually replace the wiring harnesses, the consumption of the vehicle body part should increase significantly.

Yidong Electronics said that FPCs are able to replace traditional wiring harnesses because FPCs can realize modular and automated production. FPCs have significant advantages in production efficiency, safety, and battery lightweight. At this stage, this alternative is appearing rapidly in the energy storage industry.

According to reports, about a hundred thousand FPCs are used for 1GWh batteries in the new-energy power battery industry. Some manufacturers have begun to develop FPC downstream integrated products called CCS (Celscontactsystem, integrated busbar, and wiring harness board integration) solutions. Compared to the FPC, the value ofCCS bikes can be significantly increased by 2-3 times.

It should be mentioned that although the new energy vehicle market is in good shape, there are few companies that can stand on the top of the mountain. Compared with consumer electronics, automotive soft boards are technically difficult and have higher reliability requirements. Higher requirements are imposed whether there are enterprise technology reserves, production capacity, or capital layout. Consequently, the majority of competitors have listed companies.

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旋转方块1.gif Seeking an Alternative is Not Easy

The author look up public information and learned that Jingwang Electronics, Horizon Electronics, Yidong Electronics, Dongshan Precision, and other listed companies have different layouts in automotive FPCs.

As mentioned above, Dongshan Precision said that the company had prepared to replace the wireless module production and construction project with the new-energy FPCs and its assembly project of Yancheng Weixin Electronics Co., Ltd. The new project is planned to be constructed for 30 months, forming an FPC production capacity with an annual output of 2.1 million square meters.

In addition, in the production capacity design of the Jiangxi Phase II factory, Jingwang Electronics has an early layout targeting world-class automakers. The Fushan plant undertakes the orders of modules and new energy. In February, the company's automotive high-frequency radar boards, automotive direct-heat-dissipation copper substrates, and other products were rated as famous high-tech products in Guangdong Province in 2021.

Yidong Electronics and HonFlex Electronics are also very motivated in promoting the automotive FPC business. According to reports, Yidong Electronics has entered the supply chain of the world's top five mobile phone terminal brands and well-known new energy automobile industry companies such as BYD and CATL. HonFlex Electronics transformed its main factory in Xiamen into a marine factory, providing a large amount of FPC supply for the leading domestic new-energy battery manufacturers.

It is worth noting that Japanese auto sheet makers such as CMK, Jianding, and Hi-Tech have stepped up production after gaining profits from the new energy vehicle market when Chinese enterprises are actively deploying. Due to the late development of the FPC industry in mainland China, the regions of Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan FPC factories are still leading in high-end products.

A senior person in the circuit board industry said that the demand for flexible boards in the 3C market is currently highly saturated. Domestic giant companies must start to seek new opportunities. However, compared with Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese companies, mainland China manufacturers are still far behind in high-end product manufacture.

There is still a big gap between domestic FPC manufacturers and the world's first-tier manufacturers in terms of production capacity, products, and revenue scale. There is a large gap between the first and second tiers. As far as I know, few manufacturers in mainland China are capable of supplying automotive-graded FPCs. The global production capacity is mainly attributed to Taiwan manufacturers.

Conclusion

The application of flexible sensors in smart clothing allows the wearer to understand their physical condition anytime, anywhere. This innovation adapts to the social development trend. From the early stage of the invention to maturity, the development cycles of this technology become shorter and shorter.

Source from：Jiwei Website，retrieved by Shenzhen Fitech