China's PCB maker Dongshan Precision Manufacturing (DSBJ) has disclosed plans to invest CNY1.5 billion (US$232.1 million) in establishing a new wholly-owned subsidiary that will be dedicated to production and sale of IC substrates.

DSBJ has yet to identify what IC substrates its new subsidiary will produce, but it will most likely focus initially on production of BT substrates, which involve lower technology and funding thresholds than ABF substrates, according to industry sources.

DSBJ is now among suppliers of flexible PCB products, such as LCP antenna boards, for Apple devices, and therefore it stands to reason for the company to prioritize the development of BT substrate technology, which can help it join later the supply of BT-based SiP and AiP substrates increasingly applied to new 5G iPhones and other iOS devices, the sources continued.

It may take quite some time for DSBJ to join Zhen Ding Technology and AT&S in supplying 5G AiP substrates for Apple devices, but the China-based maker can easily build a solid presence in the BT substrate supply chain serving Chinese handset vendors such as Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi, the sources indicated.

At the moment, China-based PCB makers boast better achievements in developing BT substrates than ABF ones. Shennan Circuits, for instance, leads in its China market share for BT-based MEMS module substrates, and Fastprint also has a solid presence in BT substrates for memory modules.

By DIGITIMES