With the global semiconductor cycle recovery trend and the launch of innovative products such as Apple XR and AI PC, the PCB industry's "cycle + growth" dual logic is expected to continue to resonate. In terms of product structure, the operating income of products worth 10-30 billion yuan respectively is 401/1288/60 million yuan.
Benefiting from the vigorous development of artificial intelligence, the market demand for high-density interconnect boards has been continuously strong in recent years, and the printed circuit board industry, known as the "mother of electronic products," has also ushered in new development opportunities.
Guo Tao, Deputy Director of the China Electronic Commerce Expert Service Center and Senior Artificial Intelligence Expert, said in an interview with reporters: "With the development of the global artificial intelligence industry, printed circuit boards should not only be improved in layers and steps, but also optimized in transmission loss and design flexibility.
High-density interconnect boards used in artificial intelligence servers and other fields are expected to become the main direction of printed circuit board iteration and upgrade, and companies that plan ahead will be able to seize development opportunities better."
Recently, the PCB concept has been driven by Nvidia.
Last week, some market views stated that the NVIDIA GB200 server will officially ramp up in the second half of the year, with a mainly new GPU board group for AI servers.
At the same time, AI servers have higher requirements for transmission rates, and require 20-30 layers of HDI boards. In addition, ultra-low loss materials will be used in material selection, and their value will be further enhanced.
Analysts believe that the PCB sector will exhibit a clear non-seasonal feature in the first quarter of 2024, mainly due to demand recovery and major manufacturers' cultivation of internal strength and continuous optimization of product structure. AI is expected to become a new driving force for the growth of the PCB industry. At the same time, with the improvement of overall machine integration, the usage of HDI circuit boards is expected to continue to grow, and the NVIDIA GB200 is expected to significantly increase the usage of HDI circuit boards.
BOC International released a research report saying that the PCB industry is a basic industry in the manufacturing of electronic information products, and is greatly influenced by the macroeconomic cycle fluctuations. With the global semiconductor cycle recovery trend and the launch of innovative products represented by Apple XR and AI PC, the PCB industry's "cycle + growth" dual logic is expected to continue to resonate.
PCB related companies:
KB Laminates (01888): The average selling price of the company's "FR-4 laminates" has been increased by 10 yuan per sheet. After adjusting the average selling price in response to the rise of copper costs in mid-March this year and the improvement of terminal demand, the company has made its second price adjustment this year. Citigroup research report believes that considering the full orders in May and the factor of inflation in the average unit selling price, it will continue to offset the impact of the recent sharp rise in copper costs, which will increase the profit forecast for KB Laminates from fiscal year 2024 to 2026 by 24% to 37%. The bank predicts that the monthly shipping volume of KB Laminates will increase by about 30% annually, which means that the utilization rate and gross profit margin will be improved.
Kingboard Holdings (00148): According to the annual report of Kingboard Holdings in 2023, the group's low dielectric constant / low thermal expansion coefficient products for AI computing power have completed product development. Made of high-proportion domestic materials, the products are currently undergoing comprehensive testing with customers, and are actively pushing for promotion in response to the needs of the group's PCB and industry. Meanwhile, to meet the explosive development of AI, the company has increased investment and technical reserves in high aspect ratio electroplating technology, advanced back drilling technology, thick copper PCB process technology, and ultra-high-speed material usage. The company is also reserving new technologies in the future 6G wireless communication, high-speed servers, 4D imaging millimeter-wave radar for automobiles, and new energy vehicle high-voltage fast charging.