Asia Pacific Electronic Chemicals and Materials Market Booms as Printed Circuit Board Production Moves to Asia.

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- Revenue generation in the Asia Pacific electronic chemicals and materials market has increased with Asia becoming the preferred destination for approximately 80 percent of the new fabs likely to be built during 2007-2010; and the shifting of printed circuit board (PCB) production to Asia.

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.financialservices.frost.com), Asia Pacific Electronic Chemicals and Materials Market: Investment Opportunities, reveals this market earned $37.14 billion in 2006 and estimates this to reach $59.02 billion in 2010.

If you are interested in a virtual brochure, which provides manufacturers, end users, and other industry participants with an overview of the Investment Opportunities in the Asia Pacific Electronic Chemicals and Materials Market, then send an e-mail to Donna Jeremiah, Corporate Communications, at [e-mail], with your full name, company name, title, telephone number and e-mail address. An overview will be sent to you via e-mail upon receipt of the above information.

North American customers of PCB materials are increasingly shifting focus to low-cost Asian countries for their cheaper and commoditized products; finding it more economical to manufacture and ship printed wire boards from Asia to North America and Europe.

"In reaction to this trend, PCB materials manufacturers are developing a strong technical base in Asia for achieving close proximity to customers and providing direct support services to companies relocating to Asia," says Frost & Sullivan Financial Analyst Shrikanth S. "The Asian PCB material market is expected to gain significant business opportunities from the relocated PCB manufacturers."

However, the market is likely to face pricing pressures due to a drastic drop in average selling prices (ASP) in the semiconductor market in 2007. Moreover, in the wake of building inventories, the three key market segments of microprocessors, dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and NAND flash memories experienced rapid price attrition.

Participants expect to be by the high cost-impediment to the commercialization of photovoltaic cells, as photovoltaic wafers, the main raw material for the cells, cost nearly twice as much as an IC wafer. This, however, is only a short-term concern since the market is turning to mass production.

"In 2006, the photovoltaic market achieved greater than the 15 percent efficiency required for the mass production of solar panels at a reasonable cost," notes Shrikanth. "Industry experts believe that by 2010, thin-film crystalline silicon solar cells on non-silicon substrates are expected to reach a fabrication cost of less than EU1 per Watt peak."

Transition to 300 mm wafers will also augur well for the electronics materials and chemicals market. The 300 mm fabs are likely to achieve 14.4 percent revenue growth in the emerging countries of Asia Pacific between 2006 and 2010. Meanwhile, the Japanese market is expected to grow at 9.3 percent during the same period.

Asia Pacific Electronic Chemicals and Materials Market: Investment Opportunities is part of the Financial Benchmarking and Analysis in the Specialty Chemical Industry Subscription, which also includes research services on the investment opportunities in the following markets: North American paints and coatings, North American electronic chemicals and materials, Asia Pacific paints and coatings, European fine chemicals, and North American fine chemicals. All research services included in subscriptions provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants. Interviews with the press are available.

Frost & Sullivan's Business and Financial Services group serves clients around the world in all aspects of financial analysis, market research and monitoring, idea generation, opportunity analysis, investment valuation, and other proprietary research.

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Asia Pacific Electronic Chemicals and Materials Market: Investment Opportunities

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