Many people speculate in stocks and watch technology tracks, focusing mostly on chips, photolithography machines, and large AI models, but ignore the core equipment that truly supports the implementation of all AI servers, high-end chips, and new energy electronic products—high-end PCB production equipment.
Its technical barriers, mass production difficulty, and monopoly level are no less than those of photolithography machines, and some subdivision processes are even more difficult.
The live electronic products such as mobile phones, computers, new energy vehicles, and AI computing servers that we come into contact with daily are all inseparable from the basic core component-PCB printed circuit board.
It can be simply understood that the chip is the brain of electronic products, and the PCB is the skeleton and nerve system of electronic products. Without high-quality PCB to carry signal transmission and circuit connections, no matter how advanced the chip is, it will not work properly.
With the explosion of AI computing power, iteration of high-end servers, and upgrading of the new energy industry in the past two years, the global high-end PCB production capacity is in short supply, and the domestic industry has embarked on a 150 billion-scale super expansion wave.
The core requirement for capacity expansion is high-end production equipment, not raw materials and factory labor.
Different from ordinary mechanical equipment, core equipment that can produce high-end computing power PCBs and high-end IC carrier boards, only three companies in the world can achieve stable commercial mass production, and their degree of monopoly far exceeds that of the lithography machine track.
Many people wonder why small circuit board production equipment can rival photolithography machines?
In fact, the production threshold of PCB boards for ordinary home appliances and low-end digital products is low, and the technical content of the equipment is not high.
However, high-end PCB and IC carrier board-specific production equipment adapted to AI servers, high-end computing chips, etc. are another technical dimension.
The core difficulties of photolithography machines are concentrated in the fields of optics and materials, while the core difficulties of high-end PCB production equipment are comprehensive problems in multiple fields such as composite processes and dynamic calibration.
In particular, high-end PCBs used in AI servers have many layers and thin lines. The board will deform irregularly during the multi-layer lamination process, and ordinary equipment cannot correct the deviation.
This kind of high-end board requires extremely thin line width, and the overall board yield must be maintained above 99%. Dynamic error correction is difficult, and a dedicated algorithm is required to dynamically capture board deformation in real time, calibrate partitions, and correct errors line by line.
This requires long-term process precipitation, data accumulation and algorithm iteration, and it is difficult for many countries to break through.
The entire PCB production process contains hundreds of processes. Common process equipment has been completely replaced by domestic companies. However, the three core equipment that determines the yield and accuracy of high-end PCBs have been absolutely monopolized by overseas oligarchs for a long time.
There are only three core equipment manufacturers in the world that can meet the mass production standards of AI high-end PCBs and high-end IC carrier boards and achieve stable commercial supply, namely Israel Orbo Technology, Japan Screen, and Japan ADTEC.
Israel Orbo Technology is the absolute leader in the world, monopolizing the global ultra-high-end PCB exposure equipment market; Japan Screen specializes in mid-to-high-end precision imaging and exposure equipment; Japan ADTEC fills the gap in high-end process segments.
These three companies have formed absolute industry barriers. The pricing power of high-end equipment is in overseas hands. The unit price of equipment is high, the delivery cycle is long, and the procurement threshold is high.
Overseas manufacturers have tightened equipment exports in the past two years, and domestic high-end PCB factories are facing difficulties in expanding production. This has also accelerated the domestic substitution of domestic PCB equipment.
At present, the domestic localization rate of low-end and ordinary PCB equipment exceeds 80%, but the localization rate of top-level core equipment adapted to AI computing power and high-end packaging is less than 30%, leaving a broad space for substitution.
The explosion of the AI computing power industry in the past two years has driven a surge in demand for high-end servers, and the industry has begun a large-scale upgrade and expansion cycle.
From 2025 to 2027, the domestic PCB industry’s total investment in new production expansion and other activities will exceed 150 billion yuan, and more than 60% of the funds will be used to purchase high-end production equipment.
Expansion of production has three major logics: the iterative upgrade of AI servers will force PCBs to be fully high-end; the upgrade of domestic chip packaging will drive the rigid demand for IC carrier board equipment; and the restriction of overseas supply will force the entire industry chain to be independently controllable.
In the complete high-end PCB production process, the truly stuck, high-value, and high-barrier core equipment are mainly divided into three categories.
LDI laser direct exposure equipment is the core equipment for the production of AI high-end PCBs and ultra-fine circuits. A few domestic leading companies have achieved technological breakthroughs; ultra-high-precision drilling equipment has long been monopolized by Japanese equipment, and domestic leading companies have achieved technological catch-up; domestic companies in high-end electroplating and surface treatment equipment have basically achieved domestic substitution.
The PCB equipment track presents a pattern of complete domestic production of mid- to low-end products, accelerated replacement of mid- and high-end products, and breakthroughs in top-level equipment.
Combining dimensions such as technical barriers and market share, the track has core high-quality targets such as the absolute leader in comprehensive equipment, the specialized leader in LDI laser exposure equipment, and the segmented leader in electroplating and precision equipment.
This track has high barriers, strong monopoly, large dividends, long cycle, low position, large cognitive gap, stable performance and strong certainty. It is a high-quality technology track that is underestimated by the market.
However, there are also risks such as the rapid technological iteration of overseas oligarchs and fluctuations in industry expansion progress, but the long-term growth logic of the track will not be affected.
Topic interaction: Have you ever paid attention to the invisible hard-core track of PCB equipment before?
Do you think that under the wave of RMB 150 billion production expansion, domestic equipment can quickly break the monopoly of the three overseas companies?
Welcome to leave a message in the comment area to exchange opinions.
