An Introduction to the Global PCBA Market Situation

A PCBA, or PCB assembly, is a circuit board surface-mounted and through-hole mounted with electronic components to play functions in a system or electronic product. All electronic and electrical products require PCBA manufacturing so that they can be installed with enclosures to become box builds.

The Global PCBA Market Value
PCBA is the semi-product of every electronic and electrical product. Communications, automotive, industrial, consumer electronics, medical, and many other electrical fields demand PCBA fabrication. The demand creates the global PCBA market.
In 2021, the global PCBA market value reached 80 billion US dollars, which was 23% higher than in 2020. According to Prismark, the value of the global PCBA market will reach $101.6 billion US dollars in 2026.

Area Shares in the PCBA Market
Since the release of the RoHS directive in 2006, which requires the printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturer to deal with the recycling of the boards they manufactured, many PCB factories move to Asia, mainly in mainland China and Taiwan. Nowadays, Asia takes up about 80% of the PCB market share.

However, printed circuit board assembly is different from PCB assembly. Unlike PCB manufacturing which generates a lot of toxic chemical sewage and brings pollution to the environment, PCB assembly is much cleaner. So still, Europe takes up a large share (70%) in the global PCBA market. And about 30% of the PCBA market share is in China, Taiwan, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

Europe, mainland China, and Taiwan can assemble advanced PCBs. Vietnam and the Philippines are beginners and can assemble only simple PCBs.

Industry Shares in the PCBA Market

Different industries have different demands for PCBA fabrication.
According to Taiyo, in the share of the Europe PCBA market, industrial takes 40.9%, automotive 20.2%, defense 8.8%, medical 8.4%, aerospace 5.1%, communications 4.2%, consumer 2.2%, computer 0.8%, and other 9.4%.
According to EET-China, in the share of the China PCBA market, communications takes 23%, computer 24%, consumer electronics 15%, and other 38%.
The trend of PCBAs and electronics is getting more high-density, smaller, and lighter. IC load boards and probe cards used for IC testing and packaging can be examples of PCBA trends.