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Analysis |
World PCB market Up in 2016 says IPC
World PCB production reached an estimated USD 58.2 billion in 2016, up 2.2 percent in real terms, while North American PCB production decreased a mere 0.1 percent, according to IPC’s World PCB Production Report for the Year 2016.
The North American PCB market also continued its downward trend, but at a slowing rate of just -1.7 percent in 2016, says IPC.
The World PCB Production Report shows that more than half the world’s PCBs based on value are now produced in China, but Taiwanese companies are the leading PCB producers, fabricating most of their PCBs off-shore. India emerged as having the fastest-growing PCB industry in Asia and has joined the top 10 PCB-producing countries in the world as of 2016.
IPC’s report highlighted an abrupt change in the growth trends for rigid PCBs and flexible circuits. Rigid PCB production, which has slowed in recent years, was up slightly in 2016, while the previously growing flex segment decreased. The world PCB market overall is expected to continue experiencing modest growth in 2017.
According to IPC’s findings the military and aerospace market continues to consume more than one-third of PCBs sold and this vertical market continues to grow as a percentage of total PCB sales in the region.
