Abstract:With the rapid development of electronic technology, the traditional rigid circuit board can no longer fully meet the needs of modern electronic products for flexibility, thinness and high performance, and FPC has gradually received extensive attention from the market. As a flexible, lightweight, and easy-to-process circuit board, FPC is widely used in mobile phones, laptops, tablets, cameras, automobiles, and other fields. With the continuous progress and upgrading of electronic product technology, the market demand for FPC products is also increasing. According to the data, the market size of China's FPC industry will reach 129 billion yuan in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 12%. It is estimated that the industry market size will increase by 7% year-on-year to 138 billion yuan in 2023 and 12% year-on-year to 168 billion yuan in 2025.
1. Definitions and Classification
FPC, also known as flexible circuit board, is a kind of flexible printed circuit board made of polyimide or polyester film as the substrate with high reliability and excellent excellence. It has the characteristics of high wiring density, light weight, thin thickness and good bendability. Compared with other types of circuit boards, it is more in line with the development trend of intelligent and portable electronic products in downstream industries, and is widely used in modern electronic products. At present, FPC mainly includes single-sided flexible boards, double-sided flexible boards, multi-layer flexible boards and rigid flexible boards.
Second, industry policies
1. Competent authorities and regulatory system
The administrative department of the FPC industry is the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China, and its main responsibilities include: researching and proposing industrial development strategies, formulating industrial plans and industrial policies and organizing their implementation, and guiding the formulation of technical regulations and industry standards for the industrial industry. In addition, the industry is also regulated by the National Development and Reform Commission of the People's Republic of China, among other departments. The waste gas and wastewater emissions generated in production also need to meet the corresponding environmental protection standards and be supervised by the Ministry of Natural Resources of the People's Republic of China.
The industry self-regulatory organization is the China Printed Circuit Industry Association (CPCA). China Printed Circuit Industry Association is a national first-class industry association with independent legal personality under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and approved by the Ministry of Civil Affairs. It is mainly responsible for reflecting the development status and demands of the industry and members to the government departments, and assisting the government departments in the industry management of the printed circuit industry. Actively put forward suggestions on industry development and legislation to government departments, and participate in the preliminary research and mid-term evaluation of the formulation and revision of industry development plans and the formulation of industry standards. Focusing on regulating market order, vigorously promote the construction of industry integrity, standardize member behavior, coordinate member relationships, and maintain a market environment of fair competition.
2. Industry-related policies
With the rapid development of the times, the FPC industry has already become the mainland's semiconductor pillar leading industry, the current flexible electronics industry has begun to take shape, the number of related enterprises is increasing, with flexible electronics as the core of the key core technology and strategic emerging industries, is regarded as expected to become an important track for the mainland to achieve corner overtaking in the field of disruptive technology. In recent years, in order to promote the development of local industries, the state has successively issued relevant policies to support FPC, such as the "Industrial Key Common Technology Development Guide (2017)" pointed out that in the field of printed circuits, the focus is on the development of rigid-flex printed circuit board manufacturing technology, etc., and in the field of flat panel display, the development of flexible display technology, quantum dot TV technology, and printed display technology. In the "Implementation Plan for the New Industry Standardization Pilot Project (2023-2035)", it is proposed to carry out pre-research on advanced technology standards such as quantum dot display, holographic display, and retinal display. Research and development of key technical standards such as Micro-LED display, laser display, printed display, etc., and key product standards such as a new generation of display materials, special equipment, and process devices.
Third, the development process
From the perspective of development history, the development process of China's FPC industry can be divided into the initial stage, the rapid development stage, and the steady development stage. Compared with developed countries, the FPC industry in mainland China started late, and the research and development of FPC technology began to appear at the end of the 80s of the 20th century, and the development of the industry was slow. Since the 21st century, the production technology of domestic FPC enterprises has continued to break through, and the electronic product industry has continued to transfer to Chinese mainland, and the FPC industry is in a stage of rapid development. Since 2017, the domestic FPC production capacity has been expanding, and a large number of foreign exports have been exported to meet the needs of the domestic market, and the FPC industry is in a steady development stage.
Fourth, industry barriers
1. Technical barriers
In recent years, downstream consumer electronics products have been continuously upgraded and developed in the direction of lighter, thinner and more intelligent applications, which has put forward higher requirements for display technology, data transmission and processing capabilities, forcing FPC to arrange more wires in a limited area, and continue to develop in the direction of ultra-refinement such as thin line width, dense wiring and fine technology. This requires FPC manufacturers to have high product design capabilities, process research and development capabilities and production process levels, and have high technical barriers to new entrants.
2. Financial barriers
As a capital-intensive industry, the FPC industry needs to invest a lot of money in production equipment, production workshops, working capital, and technology research and development to form an industry access threshold. Due to the numerous production processes, dozens of processes are required from the delivery of raw materials to the delivery of finished products, and a variety of large-scale equipment and production lines need to be used, and the equipment investment in the early stage of FPC production is large. At the same time, enterprises must control and test all aspects of the product production process, and need to invest in corresponding testing equipment to ensure the yield of products. In addition, because chemical products such as hydrochloric acid and sulfuric acid are used in circuit board etching and other processes in FPC manufacturing, it is also necessary to invest in corresponding environmental protection equipment for recycling and treatment. It can be seen that new entrants need to have sufficient capital to survive in the industry.
3. Scale barriers
The current electronic product market continues to show a trend of centralization, and electronic products that respond well to the market tend to significantly increase production in a short period of time. Due to the short sales cycle of electronic products, the product delivery schedule is very tight. In order to ensure the stable supply of FPC, the primary criteria for downstream electronic product manufacturers to choose FPC suppliers are the speed of response to the market and the scale of production. Therefore, the lack of sufficient production capacity not only affects the ability of enterprises to grasp business opportunities, but also affects the close cooperation between enterprises and large electronic product manufacturers.
Fifth, the industrial chain
1. Analysis of the industry chain
From the perspective of the FPC industry chain, the upstream mainly includes FCCL, insulating base film and adhesive, the midstream refers to the manufacturing of FPC, and the downstream refers to the main application fields of FPC, including automotive electronics, consumer electronics, communication equipment, military industry, aerospace, industrial automation, etc. The industrial chain of the FPC industry is shown in the following figure:
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