The PCBA situation is very grim in 2021. The PCBA carrier board PCB board, its raw materials: such as copper clad laminate, copper ball, tin, etc. have been rising. From the beginning of the year to April, copper clad laminates not only has experienced multiple price increases, but also a serious imbalance between supply and demand.
After experiencing the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020, the PCBA industry which should have been booming, has encountered unprecedented difficulties. The repeated spread of COVID-19 abroad, such as in Europe and other countries, make the industrial chain of electronic components cannot be restored and normal production cannot be performed. Due to the failure of the industrial chain of electronic components to recover, there has been a serious shortage of supply in the market. Some chip manufacturers raise the price of components has intensified the tension between supply and demand.
We have received an order for a batch of PCBA boards in March 2021. At that time, all components had been ordered to the supplier, and we just waited for the purchased components to arrive and started processing and production. Unexpectedly, when the delivery date arrives, the component agent reported that there was no stock, it was necessary to increase the price to purchase, and the delivery time was uncertain. The price increase at that time was unbelievable. The chip that used to be a few yuan has risen to tens of yuan, or even more than 100 yuan per chip. On this crazy rise, there is still a shortage of supply. The cost of a chip has already exceeded the cost of the entire PCBA board, making the entire project impossible.
The quotation validity period for chips is limited to 1 hour. Some chips were quoted one minute ago and still in stock, but may not be available the next minute. If it is a component that needs to be ordered, the delivery period may be as long as one year, and the delivery time arrived, it may not be able to get the goods on time neither.
Nowadays, in the electronic components market, the demand for chips is far exceeds the supply. The uncertainty of chips not only brings great difficulty to the quotation of PCBA boards, but also many product projects can't be produced due to the lack of chips, and are forced to be temporarily put on hold.