ChatGPT promotes the development of PCB industry

ChatGPT promotes the development of PCB industry

The popularity of ChatGPT has ignited market enthusiasm for the artificial intelligence industry, leading to a significant increase in demand for hardware such as servers and switches. The usage of printed circuit boards (PCBs) as chip carriers has also increased rapidly. Industry insiders believe that this is expected to drive an increase in the order volume of A-share listed companies in the upstream of the industry chain, and companies with strong technological innovation capabilities on the track are expected to benefit first. As of the close on February 14th, the average growth rate of 36 listed companies in the A-share PCB sector in the past month has reached 15.50%, with Fangbang Shares, South Asia New Materials, and Shenghong Technology increasing by over 30%.

AI chip demand drives PCB order growth

ChatGPT is on the rise, with orders from top AI chip manufacturers rapidly increasing. A senior executive from the well-known manufacturer Nvidia China recently stated that customers have a high demand for goods transfer.

The ChatGPT industry chain can be roughly divided into three layers, namely the application layer, the big model layer, and the chip layer. Nvidia and other large computing power chip companies are in the chip layer.

On February 14th, the head of an upstream PCB manufacturer said in an interview, "The development of the artificial intelligence industry is expected to bring a new growth point to the company

Hu Yang, Assistant Director of Hua'an Securities Research Institute and Chief Analyst of the Electronics Industry, said in an interview with reporters, "The characteristics of the ChatGPT large model have led to a sharp increase in computing power demand. The GPT3 model alone requires over a month of training time for thousands of A100 chips, including 175 billion parameters and 45TB of data. As a carrier of computing power and transmission, hardware such as servers and switches will greatly increase the usage of components such as PCBs

A-share listed companies seize development opportunities

Hu Yang stated that among A-share listed companies, top PCB manufacturers are expected to benefit first. Taking Shenghong Technology as an example, the company mainly supplies NVIDIA A100+H100 boards with higher unit prices. An insider from Shenghong Technology told reporters, "The company is closely focused on the needs of international technology giants, continuously increasing investment in design and research and development, and grasping the industry trends of these customers." Zhongjing Electronics stated that the development and application of artificial intelligence technologies such as ChatGPT and AIGC will enhance high-speed computing and storage needs, and promote innovation and progress in electronic information industries such as integrated circuits and PCBs.

According to a report by Prismark, an international consulting firm, the global PCB industry output value will reach 74.76 billion US dollars in 2023. In recent years, the focus of PCB industry has gradually shifted from Europe and the United States to Asia, forming a new pattern with Asia (especially Chinese Mainland) as the center and other regions as the auxiliary.

The high computing power demand of artificial intelligence not only brings opportunities for the development of the PCB industry, but also puts forward higher requirements for PCB technological innovation, "said an industry insider." Chinese enterprises should seize development opportunities, continue to pay attention to the development of cutting-edge technologies, and actively reserve new technologies