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As Tesla’s Robotaxi is about to hit the road and your smartphone AI assistant becomes increasingly “intelligent”, the circuit boards behind them are undergoing a technological revolution. Since 2025, the PCB industry has welcomed multiple favorable developments, from AI data centers to new energy vehicles, from foldable phones to robots, the upgrade of various electronic devices is driving a surge in PCB demand, and domestic manufacturers are accelerating the expansion of high-end production capacity, leading to a “circuit board revolution”. Below are the main sources of industry growth summarized by the author.
1.AI Servers “Consume” a Large Number of Circuit Boards: The Cost of One Board Increases by 3 Times
Entering NVIDIA’s AI server factory, you will find that the circuit boards here are completely different from traditional computers — more than 20 layers of “super circuit boards” densely packed with chips, with the price of one board equivalent to three times that of a regular server. This is because AI training requires massive data transmission, forcing the number of PCB layers to increase from the traditional 8 layers to 20-30 layers, and the materials have also changed to high-speed, low-loss special substrates. Broadcom’s latest Tomahawk 6 chip has a bandwidth of 102.4Tbps, and the corresponding PCB requires more precise circuit design. Domestic manufacturer Shenyang Technology’s high-speed copper-clad laminates (CCL) have already entered the supply chain, with prices more than five times that of ordinary substrates.
Leading manufacturers such as Shenghong Technology and Huadian Co. have AI server PCB orders scheduled until Q1 2026, with some companies even needing to operate at full capacity 24 hours a day. The PCB for NVIDIA’s GB200 server uses a 6-stage 24-layer HDI process, with a single unit usage five times that of traditional servers. Ping An Securities Research Institute points out that the global market value growth rate for high-layer PCBs (18 layers and above) will reach 41.7% by 2025.
2. The Electrification of New Energy Vehicles AcceleratesThe Value of OnboardPCBs Doubles
In BYD’s blade battery management system, a 12-layer flexible PCB and a 3OZ thick copper board form the core of the three-electric control. Engineers from Jingwang Electronics explain that the PCB value for a single new energy vehicle reaches 1500-2000 yuan, which is double that of traditional fuel vehicles, and the L2+ autonomous driving domain controller requires a 16-layer HDI board, with prices exceeding 5000 yuan. Tesla’s intelligent driving domain control board uses Any-Layer HDI technology, with laser drilling diameters as small as 0.1mm, and the market share of domestic manufacturers has increased from 30% in 2023 to 45%.
According to research by Guangda Securities, the global automotive PCB market size will reach 9.4 billion USD by 2025, driven by Tesla’s Robotaxi leading the mass production of 77GHz millimeter-wave radar boards.
3. Consumer Electronics“Roll” Integration: Smartphone Motherboard Area Reduced by 20%
Your next foldable phone may hide a more “intelligent” circuit board. The motherboard area of the iPhone 16 Pro is reduced by 20.7% compared to the previous generation, yet it accommodates more AI chips, thanks to the substrate-like PCB (SLP) technology — which enhances line density by three times through laser drilling and stacking technology. Pengding Holdings, as a core supplier for Apple, plans to invest 5 billion yuan to expand high-end HDI production lines by 2025, with the SLP board capacity at its Huai’an factory increasing by 50%.
Not just smartphones, the rise of AI PCs is also changing the circuit board landscape. Laptops equipped with AI chips require higher-layer PCBs to support high-speed data processing, and Shenyang Electronics’ high-end HDI boards have entered the supply chains of Microsoft and Google. “Currently, PCB orders for AI PCs are growing by 20% each month,” says Ping An Securities, noting that the upgrade of AI terminals is driving the penetration rate of HDI boards in consumer electronics to over 35%.
4. The Acceleration of Robotics IndustrializationPCB Demand Experiences Structural Explosion
In Yushu Technology’s quadruped robot inspection system, a 10-layer electromagnetic interference-resistant PCB enables real-time monitoring of substation equipment. UBTECH’s Walker S humanoid robot joint drive board uses high-frequency materials to ensure zero-delay motion control. Robot PCBs must meet high-density wiring and high-reliability requirements, and the industry implementation by companies like Yushu Technology and UBTECH is driving PCBs towards high-frequency and high-speed upgrades, with broad long-term growth potential.
Industry Prosperity ContinuesInstitutions Optimistic About Performance Elasticity
Ping An Securities points out that from 2024 to 2029, the global PCB market size will have a CAGR of 5.2%, driven by AI servers, 800G switches, and robotics applications, which will increase industry gross margins by 3-5 percentage points.
Industry observation: Guangda Securities believes that the PCB industry is currently in a “technology upgrade + domestic substitution” dual-cycle resonance period. Companies like Shenghong Technology and Shenyang Technology, leveraging their production capacity and technological advantages, are expected to continue breakthroughs in AI computing power, automotive electronics, and robotics, with the industry prosperity cycle likely extending to 2026.
Below are the core targets summarized by the author:
[News Tracking Recent Review]
1.Event: Companies like NVIDIA, AMD, and Qualcomm have announced collaborations with Saudi Arabia to provide advanced computing AI chips to help Saudi Arabia build sovereign AI.
Under the guidance of favorable events, [News Tracking] on June 4th published a hard-core research report, uncovering the article: Title — The company’s AI computing card and data center UBB & switch market share has quietly risen to the global first (Shenghong Technology).
2.Event:The 55th Paris-Le Bourget International Air and Space Show, known as the “Olympics of the Global Aerospace Community”, has opened;
Under the guidance of favorable events, [News Tracking] on June 18th provided a special report, uncovering the article: Title — The main products of the company are military vehicle human-machine interface systems, ammunition equipment, military vehicle auxiliary equipment, military vehicle communication equipment, drones, etc. (North China Long Dragon).
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