Asia Pacific Electronic Chemicals and Materials Market Booms as PCB Production Moves to Asia
20 September 2007
Revenue generation in the Asia Pacific electronic chemicals and materials market has increased with Asia becoming the preferred destination for approximately 80 percent of the new fabs likely to be built during 2007-2010; and the shifting of printed circuit board (PCB) production to Asia. New analysis from Frost & Sullivan, Asia Pacific Electronic Chemicals and Materials Market: Investment Opportunities, reveals this market earned $37.14 billion in 2006 and estimates this to reach $59.02 billion in 2010.
North American customers of PCB materials are increasingly shifting focus to low-cost Asian countries for their cheaper and commoditized products; finding it more economical to manufacture and ship printed wire boards from Asia to North America and Europe.
“In reaction to this trend, PCB materials manufacturers are developing a strong technical base in Asia for achieving close proximity to customers and providing direct support services to companies relocating to Asia,” says Frost & Sullivan Financial Analyst Shrikanth S. “The Asian PCB material market is expected to gain significant business opportunities from the relocated PCB manufacturers.”
However, the market is likely to face pricing pressures due to a drastic drop in average selling prices (ASP) in the semiconductor market in 2007. Moreover, in the wake of building inventories, the three key market segments of microprocessors, dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and NAND flash memories experienced rapid price attrition.
Participants expect to be by the high cost-impediment to the commercialization of photovoltaic cells, as photovoltaic wafers, the main raw material for the cells, cost nearly twice as much as an IC wafer. This, however, is only a short-term concern since the market is turning to mass production.
“In 2006, the photovoltaic market achieved greater than the 15 percent efficiency required for the mass production of solar panels at a reasonable cost,” notes Shrikanth. “Industry experts believe that by 2010, thin-film crystalline silicon solar cells on non-silicon substrates are expected to reach a fabrication cost of less than €1 per Watt peak.”
Transition to 300 mm wafers will also augur well for the electronics materials and chemicals market. The 300 mm fabs are likely to achieve 14.4 percent revenue growth in the emerging countries of Asia Pacific between 2006 and 2010. Meanwhile, the Japanese market is expected to grow at 9.3 percent during the same period.
Those interested in a virtual brochure, which provides manufacturers, end users, and other industry participants with an overview of the Investment Opportunities in the Asia Pacific Electronic Chemicals and Materials Market, can send an e-mail to Donna Jeremiah, Corporate Communications, at djeremiah@frost.com.
