Section: PACKAGING

NORTHBROOK, ILL--World production of rigid printed wiring boards (PWBs) and flexible circuits reached $34.3 billion in 1998, according to the IPC, up from $32.5 billion in 1997, an increase of more than 5 percent. Japan led in each category last year, with the United States second. The United States had been No. 1 previously in rigid PWBs.

Input received by organizations, manufacturers, and industry experts from around the world helped the IPC, originally known as the Institute for Interconnecting and Packaging Electronic Circuits and now referred to as the IPC--Association Connecting Electronics Industries, build its estimates of global rigid PWB production of $31.5 billion and flexible circuit production of $2.8 billion in 1998. Last year's growth all came from rigid PWBs, with flex flat. In 1997, the rigid PWBs had $29.7 billion, while flex was at the same $2.8 billion mark.

Japan is slightly ahead when it comes to the global market for rigid PWBs. Japan accounted for 25.3 percent of the world market in 1998 followed by the United States (24.5 percent), Taiwan (10.5 percent), China/Hong Kong (6.6 percent) and South Korea (5.3 percent). Both Japan and the United States lost market share compared to 1997, down from 25.4 percent and 26.1 percent, respectively. This marks the first time in three years that the United States has trailed Japan in the world market for rigid PWBs. The European market also witnessed a decreased world market share from 20.9 percent in 1997 to 17.9 percent last year.

Japan also dominated the flexible circuit world market in 1998, accounting for 36 percent of production. The other top five players included: United States (31 percent), Taiwan (6 percent), Thailand (5 percent) and Germany (4 percent).

Multilayer PWBs accounted for 41 percent of the dollar value of rigid board production, while paper-based boards accounted for 33 percent. Single- and double-sided glass and composite-based boards accounted for the remaining 26 per cent. World square foot production of laminate for rigid PWBs is estimated at 2.3 billion square feet (210 million meters squared).

All this is according to the "Report on the World Market for Printed Wiring Boards and Substrate Materials" recently published by IPC's Technology Market Research Council (TMRC).

The TMRC World Market Report also reviewed worldwide microvia production. In total square feet, Japan produced 5.2 million (480,000 meters squared), North America accounted for 300,000 squared feet (28,000 meters squared), and Europe and other parts of Asia accounted for another 200,000 (18,500 meters squared). This translates to a world market share of almost 88 percent for Japan, where production is expected to continue to increase based on capacity and projected growth by the major PWB manufacturers. Based on current production levels and planned investments, the report says Japan and other Asian producers are expected to continue to dominate production of microvia substrates in the near future. Microvia information is based on data contributed by Prismark Partners LLC.

For more information on the TMRC and the World Market Report, which is available through TMRC membership, contact Carla Wehrspann, IPC Director of Market Research and Education through email at CarlaWehrspann@ipc.org or call (847) 790-5317.

$2.8 billion
Flexible Circuits

  A            B

Taiwan         6%
Thailand       5%
Germany        4%
Japan         36%
U.S.          31%
Other         18%

$31.5 Billion
Rigid Printed Wiring Boards

    A                 B

China Hong Kong      6.6%
South Korea          5.3%
Japan               25.3%
U.S.                24.5%
Europe              17.9%
Taiwan              10.5%
Other                9.9%

SOURCE: IPC's TECHNOLOGY MARKET RESEARCH COUNCIL