Taiwan-based CCL makers including Elite Material, Taiwan Union Technology, Iteq and Ventec International have raced to send high-frequency, high speed CCL samples to clients for validation in 2019 seeking to explore the growing 5G application opportunities in 2020 and beyond, according to industry sources.
Besides CCL materials for 5G mmWave RF (radio frequency) antenna boards, the makers have also delivered many high-end materials for other applications, including those for PCIe 5.0 spec transmission modules for servers, 400G PAM-4 switches and high-end routers, the sources said.
Their sample offerings up for validations by clients all carry DF (dissipation factor) value of under 0.0015, the same level as Megatron 8 series to be released by Panasonic, a leading maker of high-tier CCL products, the sources continued.
Competition in the high-end CCL application market starts with sample validations and product designs, and Taiwan makers have joined the validation race for new offerings well in time, indicating they have caught up with those in the leader group such as Panasonic and Rogers, the sources commented.
After having their products validated by clients, makers will again race to win orders from them, and such factors as prices, volume production quality, shipment efficiency and credibility will combine to determine the ratio of orders they can win or priority of shipments to be demanded.
Orders for high-frequency, high speed CCL materials from makers of network equipment, server and handset PCBs can hardly ramp up in the short term, but Taiwan's Iteq has set a goal of achieving a market share of over 20% in the future, the sources said.
Article translated by Willis Ke
