Driven by the demand for thinner and lighter applications, particularly in downstream smartphones, the market share of FPC is projected to further expand. In 2020, the global FPC output value reached approximately $17.6 billion, with Apple contributing around $12.6 billion to this figure.
As a significant branch of PCB, FPC (Flexible Printed Circuit) offers superior physical properties compared to traditional rigid circuit boards. FPCs can be bent, are lightweight and thin, and possess excellent electrical characteristics, enabling significant reductions in the volume and weight of electronic products.
It caters to the needs of electronic products developing in the direction of high density, miniaturization, thinness and high reliability. In recent years, the FPC market has sprung up and its proportion has continued to expand, becoming one of the core driving forces for the growth of the global PCB industry.
Apple is the single largest customer of FPC.
FPC, as a precision connector used in consumer electronics, undergoes the surface mount process (SMT) during production to attach ICs, capacitors, inductors, and other components. It serves as a “high-value small module.” Apple, being the largest consumer, accounts for approximately half of the global FPC market share with annual FPC purchases.
To illustrate the value of a single FPC in the iPhone X, it amounts to around $50, compared to other modules. According to TechInsights, the total bill of materials (BOM) value of the iPhone X (256GB) is approximately $412.75, with the camera module valued at $33, 3D sensing at $25, and acoustics at $12, among others. Clearly, the “FPC module” holds the highest value among individual smartphone components.
Apple’s FPC market space is estimated at around $12.6 billion, with approximately $10 billion from iPhone products and $2.6 billion from non-iPhone products.
Communication antenna upgrade to MPI or LCP
Traditional antennas typically utilize PI-based soft boards or the LDS process. However, as data transmission rates increase, the use of PI material results in significant signal loss, thereby impacting signal transmission. High-frequency FPCs based on LCP and MPI offer a lower dielectric constant and reduced dielectric loss. These FPCs not only meet the requirements of the 5G era in terms of data transmission speed and quality but also yield higher profit margins due to their improved performance.
5G drives the increase in MPI/LCP volume
With the advancement of wireless communication technology, mobile phones have evolved from having a single main antenna for basic reception and transmission functions to incorporating multiple antennas such as WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, and more. For instance, the iPhone X supports various 3G and 4G communication standards like UTMs, CDMA, TD-LTE, FDD-LTE, as well as WiFi and GPS.
The increasing number of wireless functions necessitates a corresponding increase in the number of antennas. In 5G communication, MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) multi-antenna technology is adopted. MIMO technology enhances communication rates and capacity, serving as a key technology for LTE and future 5G networks. To achieve 4×4 MIMO, which represents communication between the base station and the mobile phone, the mobile phone must support four antennas, while the base station requires 4T4R capabilities (4 transmit and 4 receive). This utilization of space dimensions significantly improves frequency spectrum efficiency and power efficiency.
To further enhance communication rates, it is anticipated that by 2022, MIMO 64×8 will become the standard configuration. This means the base station will employ 64 antennas, while the mobile terminal will adopt a configuration with 8 antennas. Currently, most mobile phones on the market only support MIMO 2×2 technology. Therefore, there will be a significant increase in the number of base station antenna configurations by 31 times, and the number of mobile phone antennas will triple. Consequently, the demand for high-frequency FPC will rise alongside the increased number of mobile phone antennas.
LCP/MPI supply pattern
Throughout the history of PCB development, the global PCB industry has witnessed a transfer of production from Europe, America, Japan, Taiwan, and China to mainland China. According to Prismark data, from 2008 to 2018, the production value proportion of PCBs in the Americas, Europe, and Japan steadily declined. In 2008, their respective shares were 9.3%, 6.7%, and 21.1%, which decreased to 4.5%, 3.2%, and 8.7% by 2018. In contrast, China’s global share of PCB output value continued to rise.
During the same period, China’s PCB industry saw a remarkable growth in output value from $15.04 billion in 2008 to $32.6 billion in 2018, with a compound annual growth rate of 7.2%. This growth far exceeded the global average. It is estimated that by 2021, China’s PCB industry will reach an output value of $35 billion, accounting for 53.09% of the total global PCB industry output value.