While SiP substrates are increasingly needed to support function upgrades on wearables, TWS earbuds and other devices, rigid-flex PCBs will firmly stay as mainstream applications for automotive lenses, mid-range smartphone lens, notebooks and tablet lenses, and other IoT devices, according to industry sources.
The combination of SiP technology and flexible boards is emerging as a new application trend for TWS earbuds to support new functions, such as noise cancellation and water resistance for AirPods Pro, the sources said. High-end lens modules for AR/VR applications will also require AiP and flex boards to accommodate more functional components and facilitate increasingly complicated circuit designs, the sources added.
Many leading PCB suppliers including Unimicron and Na Ya as well as their peers in Japan and South Korea have deepened deployments in SiP substrates to tap the growing market demand for wearable devices, TWS headsets and other high-end lens modules.
In the short term, SiP technology is not expected to threaten the business of rigid-flex PCB makers, whose products are still remarkably better in terms of price-performance ratios, the sources said.
Rigid-flex boards will still dominate the market for midrange and low-tier lens modules for handsets, notebook, tablets, cars and IoT devices, and makers will continue to see their shipments grow significantly in 2020, the sources indicated
Article translated by Willis Ke
