Printed Circuit Board (PCB) refers to a printed board that forms point to point connections and printed components according to predetermined designs on a universal substrate. Its main function is to provide mechanical support for various components in the circuit while connecting each component group according to a specific circuit and transmitting electrical signals. PCB is the support of electronic components, and its manufacturing quality not only directly affects the reliability of electronic information products, but also affects the integrity of signal transmission between electronic components.
From the perspective of downstream applications, according to Prismark's data, in 2021, the computer industry accounted for nearly 35% of all PCB applications worldwide, ranking first; Communication accounts for 32%, ranking second; Consumer electronics account for 15%, ranking third; Automotive electronics account for 10%, ranking fourth.


Source: Prismark, Sihan Industrial Research Institute
According to WECC data, in the Chinese market in 2021, communication accounted for over 33%, ranking first; Computers account for over 20%, ranking second; The proportion of consumer electronics and automotive electronics applications is around 15%.

Source: WECC, Sihan Industrial Research Institute
It can be seen that in the downstream application fields of global and Chinese PCB, communication, computer, consumer electronics, and automotive electronics are all the four areas with the highest downstream proportion, accounting for nearly 90% in total. They are the four most important areas downstream of PCB, directly determining the prosperity of the PCB industry. Among them, communication and computer fields are the most critical.
In terms of communication, the downstream market mainly includes product categories such as mobile phones, base stations, routers, and switches, all of which will benefit from the upgrading and upgrading of the 5G era. Base stations and mobile phones are representative terminal application devices for PCBs in the communication field.
As of the first half of 2021, China has opened a total of 961000 5G base stations, accounting for 70% of the world's total, covering all cities at or above the prefecture level in China. The number of 5G terminal connections is about 365 million, accounting for 80% of the world's total. China has the world's largest 5G network. As of the end of 2021, China has accumulated over 1.42 million 5G base stations, covering all prefecture level cities and 98% of counties and districts, with 10.1 5G base stations per 10000 people.
It is expected to build 600000 new 5G base stations in 2022, with a total of over 2 million 5G base stations. From the perspective of mobile communication devices such as mobile phones, as of the end of 2021, the total number of mobile phone users in China has reached 1.643 billion, of which more than 500 million have 5G connections. The penetration rate of 5G users in China is close to 30%, accounting for about 70% of the total global 5G users. In 2020, affected by the COVID-19, the global smartphone shipments declined by 5.74% year on year, with a total shipment of 1.292 billion units.
With the increasing number of people receiving vaccines and the gradual alleviation of the impact of the epidemic, mobile phone sales have recovered in 2021. According to IDC (International Data Company) data, global smartphone shipments in 2021 reached 1.3548 billion units; According to the "Analysis Report on the Operation of the Domestic Mobile Phone Market in December 2021" released by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, the total shipment volume of mobile phones in the domestic market in 2021 reached 351 million units.
In terms of high-performance computing equipment, the three main devices of Internet Data Centers (IDC), namely servers, networks (switches, routers), and memory, are represented by PCBs used in high-performance data processing equipment. From the perspective of big data processing centers, according to the "14 to 15 digit economic development plan" previously issued by the State Council, the added value of core industries in the digital economy will account for 10% of GDP by 2025.
As the base of the digital economy, the demand of the data center industry chain, especially the upstream infrastructure, such as servers, switches, optical module, routers and other IT equipment, will rise sharply.
According to CDCC data, the total number of data center cabinets in China reached approximately 3.1591 million by the end of 2020. According to data from the Ministry of Communications, as of the end of 2021, the scale of data center racks in use in China has reached 5.2 million, with an average annual compound growth rate of over 30% in the past five years. It is expected that the number of data center cabinets will reach 6.7 million by 2022. With the comprehensive and continuous penetration of the digital economy into various fields of the economy and society, the demand for computing power in the whole society is still very urgent. It is expected that it will continue to grow rapidly at a rate of over 20% every year. Moreover, following the launch of the "East West Computing" plan, the number of cabinets related to big data centers in the western region is bound to increase significantly, and the market space for servers, switches, and processors related to domestic data centers is accelerating expansion.
According to the 2021 global server market tracking report released by IDC (International Data Corporation), based on comprehensive annual data, benefiting from the rapid recovery of the global economy, user investment in data center infrastructure continued to rise in 2021. The global server market's shipment volume and sales were respectively 13.539 million units and 99.22 billion US dollars, with year-on-year growth of 6.9% and 6.4%. The performance of the Chinese market is particularly strong, with sales reaching 25.09 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 12.7%, continuously leading the global market, accounting for 25.3% of the global market, a year-on-year increase of 1.4 percentage points, and shipping volume reaching 3.911 million units, a year-on-year increase of 8.4%.

Source: Sihan Industrial Research Institute
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