Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting points out that as optical communication transmission enters the 1.6T and 3.2T era, the demand for related material upgrades continues to grow, making ABF substrates, copper-clad laminates, and fiberglass cloth areas worthy of attention. Especially driven by the rising demand for AI GPUs, ASICs, and high-performance computing (HPC), the shipment prices and volumes of high-end substrates are rising simultaneously, and the overall capacity utilization rate of ABF substrates, BT substrates, and high-density interconnect (HDI) boards is expected to remain high. The institution predicts that related products are expected to see price increases of 10% to 15% per quarter starting in the second half of this year.
Unified Securities Investment Consulting also stated that upstream material shortages are driving a new round of price increases, and the upward pressure has already been transmitted to the copper-clad laminate sector, with an expected increase of approximately 10% to 15%, and the relevant price adjustments will officially take effect in November. Among them, the supply of thin fiberglass cloth models such as 2116, 1080, and 1078 is tight in the short term due to the limited expansion of weaving equipment. The institution recommends continuing to focus on long-term investment opportunities in the PCB industry chain.
From the perspective of packaging technology upgrades, South China Investment Consulting stated that as AI chips develop towards larger-size packaging, IC substrate sizes have further increased from 100mm×100mm to 150mm×150mm; the number of PCB layers has also increased from 30-40 layers to over 70 layers, driving a continuous increase in product added value. The agency predicts that the total output value of the substrate industry will increase by approximately 40% this year, while the growth rate in the HDI and high-multilayer board sectors is expected to reach 32%.
