Taiwan-based copper-clad laminate (CCL) firms including Asia Electronic Materials (AEM), Elite Materials (EMC), Iteq and Taiflex Scientific, are on track to build additional new production capacities in China to satisfy growing demand from their local customers, according to company sources.

Despite US trade sanctions against Huawei likely to slow the installation progress of 5G base stations in China, Taiwan's CCL (copper clad laminate) suppliers are still actively rolling out high-frequency and high-speed CCL for PCBs needed for 5G infrastructure in a bid to boost their market shares,...

In efforts to mitigate impacts of US trade sanctions against Huawei and tariff hikes on Chinese imports, the China government has instructed domestic enterprises to purchase more from local tech firms and source more ICs, materials and equipment from Taiwan supply chains, according to industry sourc...

Consumer electronics devices including smartwatches and Bluetooth headsets will increasingly adopt high-end HDI boards, according to PCB manufacturer Compeq Manufacturing. Overall HDI PCB demand is promising, said the Taiwan-based firm.

A Japan-based vendor reportedly is looking for a buyer for its automotive IGBT manufacturing lines from among makers in Taiwan and China, according to industry sources.

Taiwan PCB maker HannStar Board sees little impact from the US hiking tariffs from 10% to 25% on US$200 billion worth of Chinese imports starting May 10, but may face significant impact if the Trump administration expands the tariffs to another US$325 billion of Chinese goods that cover almost all...

HannStar Board remains focused on the improvement of its product mix, and has plans to roll out 30-layer PCBs this year, according to the Taiwan-based company.

Laser diode packaging firm Elite Advanced Laser has reported decreased earnings for the first quarter of 2019, citing sharp price declines of 2.5G (Gigabit per second) GPON devices and weak demand for its 3D sensing and green laser products.

The global IC packaging and testing market had a scale of US$28 billion in 2018 with the top-10 players commanding a combined 84% share. Three of the top-10 players are based in China. Of the four sectors in China's semiconductor industry, packaging and testing is the one with technologies closest...

The supply of ajinomoto build-up film (ABF) substrates has been tight, and will continue to fall short of demand in the second half of 2019, according to industry sources.

Taiwan-based MOSFET firms Excelliance MOS and Sinopower Semiconductor have reported on-year increases of 49% and 51.5%, respectively, in net profits for the first quarter of 2019.

PCB and IC substrate maker Nanya Printed Circuit Board saw its net loss improve to NT$278 million (US$8.9 million) in the first quarter from loss of NT$677.9 million during the same period in 2018, with the improvement attributed partly to the launch of substrates for new-generation network communications...

PCB manufacturer Tripod Technology has reported net profit surged 30.5% from a year earlier to NT$1.08 billion (US$34.7 million) in the first quarter of 2019, with EPS coming to NT$2.05.

China at the moment has as many as 30 semiconductor fabs under construction - the most ambitious investment plan the global semiconductor industry has ever seen. China's memory industry was originally meant to be a key growth driver, but it has lost momentum after the US ban on exports to China-based...

Unimicron Technology has disclosed plans to invest a total of NT$20 billion (US$644.7 million) in R&D and expanding production capacity for advanced flip-chip (FC) substrates through 2022 to tap business opportunities arising from 5G, artificial intelligence (AI) and big data.

The different sectors of the semiconductor industry are clearly defined with specific work, and therefore each sector's self-sufficiency rate must be looked at in their own right. The meaning of "Made in China" would mean little if seen in a confusing perspective. Lumping together the production values...

GaAs epi-wafer company Intelligent Epitaxy Technology (IntelliEPI), which uses MBE (molecular beam epitaxy) growth technology, saw its revenues for April plunge 23.8% on month to NT$48 million (US$1.55 million) on liquid nitrogen system construction errors committed by its engineering contractor. The...

PCB drill bit maker Topoint Technology saw its net profits decline 49.5% from a year earlier to NT$31 million (US$1 million) in the first quarter of 2019, with capacity utilization rates falling below year-ago levels.

With more smartphone vendors looking to adopt substrate-like PCBs in their high-end models, and more other mobile devices including notebooks and tablets set to incorporate SLPs, SLP demand is expected to be bullish, according to industry sources.

Undoubtedly the semiconductor industry is a key factor underlying the US-China trade war. However, when we try to understand the strength and progress of China's semiconductor industry, we discover that all the figures seem connected and yet cannot be compared directly. The production value of the...

Flexible PCB specialist Zhen Ding Technology, which has been diversifying its offerings to include substrate-like PCBs and rigid-flex boards, saw its consolidated revenues for April 2019 surge 23% from a year earlier.

Japan's Meiko Electronics has reportedly obtained major substrate-like PCB (SLP) orders from Samsung Electronics for its Galaxy devices, and plans to build additional SLP production lines at its manufacturing site in Vietnam this year, according to industry sources.

Unitech Printed Circuit Board has been ramping up rigid-flex PCB shipments for Apple's AirPods 2, the order visibility for which has extended through early 2020 at least, according to industry sources.

Copper-clad laminate (CCL) specialist Iteq has reported net profit surged 40.4% from a year earlier to NT$506 million (US$16.4 million) in the first quarter of 2019. EPS for the quarter came to NT$1.64, outperforming its fellow Taiwan-based CCL companies including Elite Materials (EMC) and Taiwan Union...

Conditions in the global semiconductor market have deteriorated rapidly since the start of the year, with IHS Markit revising its 2019 growth outlook to a decline of 7.4% in revenue.