The printed circuit
board (PCB) is a core component used in the manufacturing of nearly all modern electronic products, which range from the basic LED lights to
complicated motherboards for high-end computers. As technology is currently
assisting modern society in almost every facet, the future is looking
particularly bright for the PCB industry.
The Global PCB Industry is Economically Booming
According to
analytical data, as published by a well-known, procurement intelligence firm, the PCB industry is set to reach a value of $77.73
billion globally by 2020. That number is based on a very impressive compound
annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3-4%.
Internally, the PCBA
market within the United States is expected to grow at a CAGR of 1-2% over the
last estimated value of the industry, which stood at $3.53 billion in 2018. It’s
clear that the US market still has lot of catching up to do.
China (50%), Taiwan
(12.6%) and South Korea (11.6%) have the three largest PCB industries in the
world currently. Japan, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam are other nations that
also have a significant presence in the PCB market, making the entire industry
heavily dependent on Asia, which is currently producing more than 90% of the
PCBs manufactured in the whole world.
The Popularity of Easy-to-Design PCB Platforms Will Rise
On visiting Gumstix Inc., the user will be
prompted to use the Geppetto electronic
board designer, which is embedded in the website to help customers design the board they need in mere minutes. This is going to become a more widespread
trend in 2020, as more small businesses begin to take advantage of design and
order websites. It is to be noted that Gumstix
Inc. is not just suited for designing and ordering PCBs but any
production-grade electronic board in general.
The Geppetto platform in particular is
going to draw in a much wider customer base, because unlike most other digital
tools of the kind, the user doesn’t need to have deep knowledge about
electronical engineering to design an electronic circuit board with it.
HDI Could Finally Become More Usable
High density
interconnect (HDI) printed circuit boards are perfect for tiny electronic
devices that require more power, as HDI enables faster signal transmissions
without increasing the layers. Unfortunately, manufacturing HDI PCBs is
difficult without risking interference, due to the very small availability of
space to trace the routes.
However, this is
already changing in 2019, because significant breakthroughs have been made. By
2020, it is expected that mass-scale production of more complicated and
powerful HDI PCBs will be seen in the market.
Flexible and Semi-Flexible Boards Will Eventually take Over
The flexible and
semi-rigid/flexible boards are not just a trend but an evolutionary step for
circuit boards in general. Predictions by market leaders point towards the fact
that nearly 35% of all manufactured PCBs will either be flexible or
semi-flexible/rigid by the end of the second quarter of 2020.
More will be unveiled
about the printed circuit board’s foreseeable future as we head towards the end
of 2019. Hopefully, there will be good news regarding Every Layer Interconnect
(ELIC) and Any Layer Interconnect (ALIC) PCBs as well.
© EconMatters.com All Rights Reserved | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Email Digest