Despite Taiwanese manufacturers holding competitive advantages in high-speed materials and process consumables, Japanese suppliers still dominate high-end substrate materials and glass fiber fabrics. According to the latest reports from the Taiwan Printed Circuit Association (TPCA) and Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) Industry, Science and Technology International Strategy Center, driven by AI, the global Copper Clad Laminate (CCL) market will surpass $21.5 billion in 2026, with an annual growth rate reaching as high as 34.2%.
Driven by upgraded hardware specifications for AI computing, the global PCB industry is undergoing profound structural transformation. In the CCL sector, strong demand from AI servers for large-size, high-layer-count PCBs (over 40 layers) and ultra-low-loss characteristics has pushed the market into a golden period of rising volume and prices. The global CCL market size reached $16.02 billion in 2025, and is projected to surge to $21.5 billion in 2026 amid AI-driven specification upgrades, representing a 34.2% year-on-year increase.
TPCA pointed out that Taiwanese vendors have demonstrated outstanding competitiveness in this segment. As of 2025 statistics, their global market share stands at 37.4%. Among them, Taiyo Ink ranks first worldwide with an 18.9% market share. To meet high-speed transmission demands, Taiwanese manufacturers are actively developing next-generation materials such as Low Dk Grade 2 glass fiber fabrics, quartz fabrics and PTFE. They aim to strike an optimal balance between high-speed signal integrity and processing reliability, consolidating the material foundation for high-performance computing.
In the Flexible Copper Clad Laminate (FCCL) segment, PI-FCCL — the most widely used type — has benefited from rising demand for Battery Management Systems (BMS) and ADAS in electric vehicles, alongside a recovering PC market, pushing its 2025 market scale to $1.01 billion. However, driven by rising memory costs that lift end-product expenses, the PI-FCCL output value is expected to edge down slightly to $990 million in 2026.
For high-frequency applications, MPI and LCP are critical materials for high-end communications, yet their growth is constrained by sluggish smartphone market expansion and design changes. The MPI-FCCL market size is estimated at $240 million in 2026. Meanwhile, LCP-FCCL, featuring ultra-low-loss properties, saw demand drop by more than 10% in 2025 due to adjusted iPhone antenna designs. Looking ahead to 2026, the market will still be weighed down by weak consumer electronics performance, with an overall scale of around $280 million.
As AI servers evolve toward the B300/GB300 platform, the PCB supply chain is embracing dual dividends of higher product value and growing demand. Taking HVLP copper foil as an example, demand for ultra-low roughness (Rz 0.5μm) HVLP4 products has skyrocketed. Fueled by the AI boom, global HVLP copper foil production capacity surged 48.1% to 23,400 tons in 2025. Although Japanese manufacturers currently control over 60% of global supply, Taiwanese firm Jinju ranks among the world’s top three with a 10.3% market share.
In the semiconductor substrate material sector, Japanese manufacturers maintain strong technological monopoly, with influence extending to the uppermost reaches of the industrial chain. 2025 data shows that in the ABF substrate material market — indispensable for advanced packaging — Japan’s Ajinomoto holds a staggering 97.1% global market share, virtually controlling the lifeline of global AI chip packaging. Japanese vendors also command an absolute dominant position of over 70% in BT substrate materials and Low CTE glass fiber fabrics. As AI applications are less price-sensitive, suppliers prioritize fulfilling AI orders, creating structural supply bottlenecks and even crowding out glass fiber fabric capacity allocated to automotive and traditional consumer electronics.
The high-layer and thick-board structure of AI servers has significantly increased processing difficulty, raising technical requirements for PCB drill bits — a key process consumable. To tackle challenges such as chip removal efficiency and bit breakage rates, the market is rapidly shifting to high-performance coated drill bits for better processing stability. Microvia processing shortens drill bit service life, driving the global drill bit market size up to $860 million in 2025. Benefiting from growing drilling workload and the trend toward high-value consumables, the drill bit output value is expected to rise another 29.1% to $1.11 billion in 2026.
Amid global geopolitical and economic fluctuations, building a resilient supply chain and achieving technological self-reliance have become core strategies for Taiwan’s PCB industry. The rise of AI demand is fueling a new round of technological upgrading and restructuring across the supply chain, creating opportunities to reshape the market structure long dominated by Japanese manufacturers. To secure stable supply, global brand clients are actively adopting dual-sourcing strategies, granting Taiwanese manufacturers entry opportunities in high-speed materials and precision processing. Going forward, the global PCB supply chain will see a higher degree of professional division of labor, with the competitive landscape continuously shaped by technological evolution, computing power demand and geopolitics. Taiwanese manufacturers should seize this transformation momentum, deepen independent R&D and expand global layout to solidify their key strategic position in the AI industrial chain.
TPCA emphasized that amid supply bottlenecks and geopolitical volatility, Taiwan’s supply chain is strengthening independent R&D, accelerating high-value layout, and consolidating its pivotal role in the global AI industrial chain.
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Source: TTV News
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