Cinda Securities released a research report stating that PCB industry demand is recovering with rapid growth, and AI development is expected to become a core driving factor. The global PCB industry output is projected to grow 6.8% year-over-year to $73.6 billion in 2024, with the server/storage segment achieving 10% growth and its share increasing from 14.8% to 18.3%. With improving PCB market demand sentiment, major PCB manufacturers are accelerating capacity expansion, particularly investing in mid-to-high-end markets such as AI computing power. As manufacturers actively expand production, this drives demand for specialized equipment, with drilling, exposure, and testing equipment commanding higher value. Cinda Securities' main viewpoints are as follows:

**PCB Demand Recovering with Rapid Growth, AI Development Expected to Be Core Driving Factor**

Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) serve as substrates for assembling electronic components. During 2022-2023, the global PCB market faced pressure due to weak consumer electronics demand, with industry output declining 14.9% year-over-year in 2023. With consumer electronics recovery, 2024 saw 5.9% year-over-year growth to $73.6 billion. Since this year, with consumer electronics recovery and AI development driving demand for high-value PCB products, the PCB market demand has shown an accelerating positive trend overall. Prismark forecasts annual global PCB industry output growth of 6.8%.

With rapid iteration of AI large models and intelligent hardware applications, computing infrastructure demand has surged, driving significant growth in demand for high-performance servers, GPUs, and high-end PCBs. AI-related sectors are expected to become core driving factors for future PCB market growth. According to Han's Laser HK IPO materials and Prismark, the global PCB market compound annual growth rate is expected to reach 5.6% from 2024-2029, with the server/storage application segment expected to achieve a 10.0% compound growth rate, with its share potentially rising from 14.8% in 2024 to 18.3% in 2029.

**PCB Manufacturers Accelerating Capital Expenditure, Focusing Investment on AI-Related Capacity**

With improving PCB market demand sentiment, major PCB manufacturers are accelerating capacity expansion, particularly investing in mid-to-high-end markets such as AI computing power.

1) Shengyi Technology announced in October 2024 an investment in a new high-end PCB expansion project supporting AI chips, with total investment of approximately RMB 4.3 billion, planning annual production of approximately 290,000 square meters of high-end PCBs supporting AI chips.

2) Wus Printed Circuit announced in July a $250 million capital injection to its Thai subsidiary for factory construction and equipment purchases, responding to core overseas customers' urgent demands for overseas capacity expansion.

3) Dongshan Precision announced in July investment in a high-end PCB project to meet customers' medium-to-long-term demand for high-end PCBs in emerging scenarios such as high-speed computing servers and artificial intelligence, with project investment expected not to exceed $1 billion.

4) Shengyi Electronics announced in August investment in an intelligent manufacturing high-multilayer computing power circuit board project, aimed at meeting mid-to-high-end market demand for servers, high-multilayer network communications, and AI computing power, with planned total investment of approximately RMB 1.9 billion and annual PCB production of 700,000 square meters. Previously in December 2024, the company announced approximately RMB 1.4 billion investment in building an intelligent computing center high-multilayer high-density interconnect circuit board project.

The firm selected eight representative companies: Avary Holding, Dongshan Precision, Shenzhen Nan Circuit, Shengyi Technology, Wus Printed Circuit, Shengyi Electronics, Kinwong Electronic, and Chongda Technology. Their combined capital expenditure for H1 2025 reached RMB 12.468 billion, up 80.2% year-over-year.

**PCB Specialized Equipment Benefits, with Drilling, Exposure, and Testing Equipment Having Higher Value**

Active production expansion by PCB manufacturers drives demand for specialized equipment. Main PCB production processes include exposure, lamination, drilling, plating, forming, and testing. According to Han's Laser HK IPO materials, the global PCB specialized equipment market reached $7.085 billion in 2024, with drilling, exposure, testing, forming, plating, and lamination equipment valued at $1.47 billion, $1.20 billion, $1.06 billion, $620 million, $510 million, and $420 million respectively, accounting for 20.7%, 17.0%, 15.0%, 8.7%, 7.2%, and 5.9% of the total. The global PCB specialized equipment market is projected to reach $10.765 billion by 2029, with a compound growth rate of 8.7% from 2024-2029.