PCB Information 2023-04-12 12:22 Published in Guangxi
According to a research report released by Dongfang Securities, the commonly used PCIe 4.0 interface has a transmission rate of 16Gbps, and the number of layers in server PCBs is 12-16 layers. As server platforms upgrade to PCIe 5.0, the transmission rate will reach 36Gbps, and the number of PCB layers will exceed 18 layers. The increase in layers will also lead to an upgrade in board thickness, gradually increasing from 2mm for 12-layer boards to over 3mm. Domestic manufacturers' products meet the requirements and are expected to benefit significantly. Domestic PCB manufacturers such as Huadian Co., Shenzhen South Circuit, and Shengyi Electronics have the relevant technical capabilities, with products capable of reaching up to 40 layers. PCB leader Pengding Holdings has a strong technical accumulation and significant advantages in the high-end HDI field, while actively expanding server PCB production capacity, expected to benefit from the growth in computing power demand brought about by AI technology upgrades.
▍The main points of Dongfang Securities are as follows:
AI servers are expected to accelerate growth.
According to TrendForce, led by emerging applications such as autonomous vehicles, AIoT, and edge computing, many large cloud service providers began to invest heavily in AI-related equipment construction since 2018. It is expected that in 2022, the annual shipment volume of AI servers equipped with GPGPU (General Purpose GPU) will account for nearly 1% of the overall server share. In 2023, applications related to ChatGPT are expected to further stimulate the AI-related field, with an estimated shipment growth rate of 8% in 2023, and a compound annual growth rate of 10.8% from 2022 to 2026.
In 2022, the combined procurement share of AI servers by the four major CSPs (Cloud Service Providers) in North America—Google, AWS, Meta, and Microsoft—was 66.2%. In recent years, as the domestic production process has accelerated, the wave of AI construction has heated up in China, with ByteDance having the largest procurement volume, accounting for 6.2% of annual procurement, followed by Tencent, Alibaba, and Baidu, with approximately 2.3%, 1.5%, and 1.5%, respectively.
Server PCB performance requirements are high, and the value per unit continues to rise.
PCBs used in high-end servers generally require high layer counts, high aspect ratios, high density, and high transmission speeds. Conventional servers typically have 8-24 layers, with board thicknesses of 2-4mm and a maximum aspect ratio of 15:1; high-end servers have 28-46 layers, with board thicknesses of 4-5mm and a maximum aspect ratio of 20:1. Server products have high electrical performance and reliability, with applications in high-end servers mainly including backplanes, high-layer count line cards, HDI cards, and GF cards.
Currently, the commonly used PCIe 4.0 interface has a transmission rate of 16Gbps, and the number of layers in server PCBs is 12-16 layers. As server platforms upgrade to PCIe 5.0, the transmission rate will reach 36Gbps, and the number of PCB layers will exceed 18 layers. The increase in layers will also lead to an upgrade in board thickness, gradually increasing from 2mm for 12-layer boards to over 3mm.
In addition, the higher the signal frequency, the greater the transmission loss of the PCB. The materials for server PCB products will also upgrade from low-loss materials to ultra-low-loss materials. PCIe 5.0 requires CCL materials to be upgraded to Very Low Loss grade. To meet high-speed and high-frequency requirements and reduce dielectric loss during signal transmission, the dielectric constant Dk and dielectric loss factor Df will further decrease.
According to Prismark data, the global PCB market size in the server field was $7.804 billion in 2021, and it is expected to reach $13.294 billion by 2026, with a compound growth rate of 11.2%. The value per unit of server PCBs is expected to rise from $576 in 2021 to $705 in 2026.
Domestic manufacturers' products meet the requirements and are expected to benefit significantly.
Currently, domestic PCB manufacturers such as Huadian Co., Shenzhen South Circuit, and Shengyi Electronics have the relevant technical capabilities, with products capable of reaching up to 40 layers. PCB leader Pengding Holdings has a strong technical accumulation and significant advantages in the high-end HDI field, while actively expanding server PCB production capacity, expected to benefit from the growth in computing power demand brought about by AI technology upgrades.
