Portables to Account for 22% of PCB, Laminate Industry

 Portables to Account for 22% of PCB, Laminate Industry 

Portable products such as mobile phone handsets and tablets are one of, if not the, fastest growing sectors and now represents around $12 billion of the $55 billion or so of the total global PCB and Laminate industry, according to BPA Consulting. The market research firm predicts strong demand out to 2018, much of which is driven by mobile phone handsets, over 40% in fact and is, and will remain, by far the largest sector. The biggest current and ongoing change to this sector is the rise of the low- and medium-end smart phone sector mainly from Chinese ODMS the bulk of which are not as feature rich as high end products like the iPhone 6, a good example a new business model in this sector is Xiaomi. Founded in 2010, Xiaomi is one of the largest Chinese smartphone companies. It's revenues in 2013 were more than $5 billion. Xiaomi produces it's products in small batches, allowing for easy changes based on user feedback. Every Friday there is a major feature update of the operating system and a round of feedback from expert consumers. Currently Xiaomi only sells directly to consumers (unlike the main incumbents, who go through a number of intermediaries – mainly network operators). The company can collect all this feedback and build it into the next series of devices not waiting on the traditional annual redesign cycle. The recent past has seen the outsourcing model--anything from design through semiconductors to assembly of PCBs and their components. What has largely remained intact is the hardware itself has been driven by ODMS technology roadmaps to which the supply industry has responded. This has often meant continuing investment in new manufacturing technologies and processes.