Aug 18 2010
A new report entitled, ‘Global China Flexible Printed Circuit (FPC) Industry Report’, has been made public, by ResearchinChina, for the year 2009-2010. According to the report, the year 2009, saw a lot of growth in the FPC boards industry, and with the advent of 2010, the growth intensified, mainly because all the slim and handy electronic devices such as smart phones, notebook computers, LED panels and e-books require FPC Boards.
GPS, Touch Screens and WLAN, are a few of the many options available in smart phones. In the interim, an assortment of sensors such as gyroscopes, magnetic sensors, acceleration, pressure and inclination sensors, have been incorporated part by part, and must be connected by either FPC or by Flex-Rigid Boards. Likewise even speakers, antennas and batteries must be attached by FPC or Flex-Rigid Boards, taking into account the internal design and dimensions. iPhone in spite of being a bar phone, utilizes approximately 10 to 15 FPC bits, which is almost double the requirements of regular cell phones.
There is a steep growth curve for the E-book market. In 2008, the worldwide e-book shipment market touched 1million, in 2009, 3.82 million, and is estimated to reach up to 9.3million in 2010. The demand for FPC keeps on increasing, because while an ordinary e-book uses 5-12 FPC pieces, a device such as Apple’s IPAD would use approximately 16 pieces. A notebook computer needs FPC both for the shaft of the laptop and for the Win7 system which wires the touch screen. Similarly, the LED panel which consists of the LED light bar, uses FPC, and currently the LED market has shown an extraordinary growth curve both in 2009 and in 2010.
Japan holds the Lion’s share of the FPC market with 50%, and uses it for hard drives, digital cameras, vehicle use, DV, optical drives and the upstream industry chains. FPC companies in South Korea, use it for mobile phones while companies in Taiwan use it mainly for notebook computers and cell phones. Their counterparts in America use FPC in printers and in mobile phones.