The penetration rate of 5G mobile phones has increased and the proportion of millimeter wave models has increased, and the number of millimeter wave terminals will increase significantly.

2019 is the first year of 5G commercialization, and in 2020, 5G mobile phones will sell well.

IDC predicts that 5G mobile phone shipments will reach 500 million units in 2021, and the penetration rate of 5G mobile phones will continue to increase.

Benefiting from the advancement of 5G millimeter wave construction, the proportion of 5G models that support millimeter wave frequency bands will also increase.

According to relevant data from the Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), there are currently more than 100 commercial and pre-commercial 5G millimeter wave terminals, including mobile phones, PCs, mobile hotspots, CPEs and modules.

The full-screen COF packaging method is expected to drive FPC demand:

At present, the packaging technology of smart phone screens is mainly based on COG, COF and COP. Among them, COF is a die soft film assembly that fixes chips such as touch ICs on the FPC, and uses a soft additional circuit board as a package chip carrier to join the chip and the flexible substrate circuit.

Its advantage is that it can achieve a narrow frame and a 20:9 full screen. With full screens as the mainstream trend, the COF solution is expected to drive the increase in FPC demand.

There is a big difference in FPC usage between Android and Apple, and usage in the 5G era is expected to increase.

At present, the iPhone XS uses about 24 FPCs internally, and the current usage of a single Android phone is about 13, which is equivalent to the FPC usage level of the iPhone 5S, with a large gap.

Judging the future, with the penetration of 5G mobile phones and further internal upgrades of Android phones, FPC usage is expected to increase.