Date: 2026-07-04 hits: 102
Concrete plans for 5G deployment are now in place. On the evening of the 22nd, Xiaomi President Lin Bin posted the first Weibo under a 5G network. Huawei has recently unveiled its future 5G foldable phones and disclosed 22 global 5G orders. As major tech giants announce 5G patent fee standards, official statements have further emphasized ensuring the launch of 5G commercial services, putting an end to market uncertainties.
Huatai Securities describes the current investment landscape and opportunities in 5G with the phrase \"The long night is ending; 5G remains the main investment theme.\" Its electronics team, through in-depth industry chain research, believes that with the replacement and upgrade of 5G base stations and other equipment, the PCB (Printed Circuit Board) segment in the upstream components sector will benefit the most, with significant application growth. Shengyi Technology, which has high-frequency PCB material production capabilities, and Shen Nan Circuit, a leader with prominent advantages, have been recommended by multiple institutions.
5G Brings Over 60 Billion Yuan in Incremental PCB Opportunities
Estimates indicate that 5G will create incremental opportunities exceeding 60 billion yuan for PCB boards. A research report from Caitong Securities points out that the technological evolution brought by 5G will ultimately be reflected in the upgrading and rebuilding of communication infrastructure, thereby inevitably creating growth opportunities for related electronic components industries.
As the \"mother of electronic products,\" PCBs will benefit from profound changes downstream. Undoubtedly, 5G construction will be a key driver for PCB industry growth over the next 2-3 years.
In terms of total demand, the wave of device upgrades triggered by 5G will lead to a surge in PCB board shipments. The MIIT (Ministry of Industry and Information Technology) expects 5G smartphones to start rolling out in the second half of 2019. Considering that early 5G phones will still need to support 4G and are more technically challenging than 4G phones, domestic mobile phone shipments are projected to reach 574 million units by 2022, with 5G smartphone shipments reaching 144 million units.
Additionally, due to the use of high-frequency bands for signal transmission, the number of 5G base stations will increase significantly. There are two ways to increase base stations: macro stations and small cells. According to the \"2018 China 5G Industry and Application Development White Paper\" released by CDR (China Information Technology Services Group), the incremental number of 5G macro stations is expected to reach 3.6 to 5 million, and small cells 7.2 to 10 million. The total number of base stations will be 3.3 to 4.6 times that of 4G base stations, laying the foundation for massive growth potential.
From a per-unit consumption perspective, in the 5G era, due to the explosion of information and the demand for high transmission rates, the large-scale application of Massive MIMO will lead to an increase in antennas, resulting in greater demand for PCB boards and opening up broader growth space as PCB board areas expand.
Furthermore, the high-frequency bands of 5G are driving the high-frequencyization of PCB boards. Currently, the mainstream solution for base station antennas is the use of carbon-hydrogen material PCB boards, which cost approximately 3,000 to 6,000 yuan per square meter, compared to about 1,900 yuan per square meter for ordinary PCBs. This represents a 1.5 to 3 times increase in unit value, significantly boosting the value per board.
Moreover, starting from commercial use in 2020, China's 5G connections are expected to reach 428 million by 2025, with a five-year compound growth rate of 155.61%. The surge in data demand is forcing communication equipment to enhance data processing capacity, and corresponding PCB materials are expected to develop towards multi-layered structures, with prices also rising accordingly.
Caitong Securities states that the changes in base station construction brought by technological innovations in the 5G era will create new incremental markets for electronic products, and PCBs, as carriers of components, will benefit profoundly. Conservatively estimated, 5G will create an incremental market of 61.8 billion yuan for PCBs within five years, and China's PCB industry is expected to迎来海量增长机遇 (welcome massive growth opportunities).
Looking at the companies' half-year reports, the technological upgrades and iterations of the company's laser cutting machines and other intelligent equipment have enhanced its recognition and market competitiveness in the PCB industry, bringing incremental performance. During the reporting period, the PCB business achieved revenue of approximately 240 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.56%.
