According to TrendForce's "Global Automotive PCB Market Outlook" research, due to the fact that PCBs account for more than half of consumer electronics applications, the economic headwind has had a more significant impact on the PCB industry compared to other components, with an estimated global PCB output value of approximately $79 billion in 2023, a 5.2% decline compared to 2022.

The automotive PCB market is growing against the trend, mainly benefiting from the continuous increase in global electric vehicle penetration rate and automotive electronics. The estimated annual output value in 2023 will increase by 14%, reaching 10.5 billion US dollars, accounting for 13% of the overall PCB output value from 11% last year; By 2026, the output value of automotive PCB is expected to grow to $14.5 billion, accounting for 15% of the overall PCB output value. From 2022 to 2026, the CAGR of automotive PCB output value is about 12%.

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TrendForce Consulting stated that the main driving force for the growth of automotive PCB production value comes from the increase in penetration rate of electric vehicles. The average PCB value of pure electric vehicles (BEVs) per vehicle is about 5-6 times that of traditional fuel vehicles. Among them, the highest PCB value content in the vehicle is the electronic control system, which accounts for about half of the PCB value of the entire vehicle. Currently, the BMS (Battery Management System) in the electronic control system mainly uses wire harness connections. In the trend of lightweight electric vehicles, FPC (Flexible Printed Circuit) will be gradually adopted in the future, which will further increase the PCB value content of electronic control systems.

As the level and penetration rate of autonomous driving continue to increase, the average number of electronic products such as lenses and radars per vehicle will also continue to increase. Currently, the main PCB used in vehicles is 4-8 layer boards, while the self driving system mostly uses HDI boards with higher unit prices (High Density Interconnect), which are about three times the price of 4-8 layer boards. The LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) used in L3 and above self driving systems can cost tens of dollars, It is also the main source of future increase in the output value of automotive PCBs.

In terms of types, it is estimated that the proportion of 4-8 layer boards mainly used in automotive PCBs will be about 40% in 2023, and will decrease to 32% by 2026. The proportion of HDI boards with higher unit prices will increase from 15% to 20%; FPC board increased from 17% to 20%, thick copper board and RF board increased from 8% and 8.8% to 9.5% and 10.8% respectively, while single and double layer panels with lower unit prices decreased from 11.2% to 7.7%.