TPCA: AI is reshaping the PCB landscape; Taiwan needs to strengthen advanced packaging.

2025/12/09

Commercial Times

December 9, 2025

Author: Central News Agency

The Taiwan Printed Circuit Association (TPCA) points out that driven by AI, China is rapidly expanding and continuously increasing its market share through high-end products, Japan is deeply cultivating semiconductor packaging with its advanced substrates, and South Korea is consolidating its dominant advantages in memory and server fields. Taiwan's semiconductor and PCB industries hold a key position in the global AI server supply chain and need to deepen its self-sufficiency in advanced packaging technologies and materials.

The TPCA issued a press release today stating that its collaborative research with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) on the "2025 China PCB Industry Dynamics Observation" and "2025 Japan and South Korea PCB Industry Observation" analyzes the industry changes in the three major East Asian printed circuit board (PCB) producing countries under the AI era.

The report indicates that the demand for AI servers, high-performance computing (HPC), data centers, and electric vehicles is comprehensively reshaping the global PCB industry. China, Japan, and South Korea are pursuing different growth models, and the changing competitive and cooperative relationships will profoundly impact the layout of the Asian electronics supply chain.

The TPCA (Public Technology Development Committee) points out that mainland China is the world's largest PCB manufacturer, with Chinese companies holding approximately 34.9% of the global market share in 2024, generating a value of about US$27.95 billion. This value is projected to grow to US$34.18 billion in 2025, representing a year-on-year increase of 22.3%, and the market share will rise to 37.6%, demonstrating explosive growth momentum.

The report analyzes that this strong growth in China stems from high-end applications such as AI servers, data centers, and new energy vehicles, rapidly amplifying demand for high-end HDI (High-Intensity Distributed) and multilayer boards, driving the overall industry to accelerate its upgrade. Although global geopolitical uncertainties remain, Chinese manufacturers, supported by policies, markets, and funding, are enhancing their niche through higher-end product portfolios.

Japan is the world's third-largest PCB manufacturer. The report indicates that Japanese companies generated approximately US$11.53 billion in output in 2024, with a global market share of approximately 14.4%. While the Japanese automotive market faces pressure from low-to-mid-price competition and a sluggish European economy, strong demand for AI chips and HDD-related applications is maintaining growth momentum for the overall PCB industry. The Japanese PCB industry is projected to return to positive growth by 2025, with total domestic and international production value increasing to US$11.82 billion, and further reaching US$12.35 billion in 2026.

The report indicates that Flexible Printed Circuit Boards (FPCs) are the largest product category in the Japanese PCB industry, accounting for approximately 51.3% of total production value in 2024, while substrates account for approximately 29.5%, making them the second largest product category. This reflects the industry's long-standing focus on semiconductors and high-end packaging. With the rapid expansion of the AI server market, demand for ABF (Alternating Aspect Foil) and AI chip substrates is also significantly increasing, highlighting Japan's position in the AI chip substrate field.

Among them, Japanese manufacturer Ibiden holds a 70% market share in the AI GPU substrate market; TOPPAN and Kyocera are actively expanding their ABF substrate production capacity through new production lines and advanced equipment to meet the next wave of demand from global cloud service providers and semiconductor manufacturers. South Korea ranks fourth in the global PCB market, with its companies generating approximately US$7.86 billion in domestic and international output in 2024, representing a 9.8% market share. Despite a weak mobile phone and display market, strong demand for AI servers and memory chips is expected to drive stable and moderate growth for the South Korean industry in 2025-2026, with estimated domestic and international output reaching US$7.94 billion and US$8.16 billion respectively.

The report points out that the South Korean PCB industry is highly concentrated in semiconductor applications, with substrates accounting for 45% of its output, highlighting its core advantages in the memory supply chain and semiconductor applications.

TPCA states that Taiwan's semiconductor and PCB industries hold a crucial position in the global AI server supply chain. Facing changes in the Asian landscape, Taiwan needs to accelerate the strengthening of its advanced packaging technologies and materials self-sufficiency capabilities, while also managing geopolitical and market risks, to maintain its key role in the new supply chain restructuring of the AI era.

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