On October 20, 2026, Unimicron (欣興電子) Chairman Jian Shanjie (簡山傑), speaking at a printed circuit board trade show in Taiwan, said lead times for some manufacturing equipment have reached 30 months. According to on-site reporting by Economic Daily News, surging AI-related demand is making board materials harder to source, and manufacturers must also wait a long time for the equipment needed to expand capacity. The 30 months refers to the time from placing an equipment order to delivery. It is not the lead time for finished boards to reach customers.
A PCB (printed circuit board) is a board on which electronic components are mounted and electrically connected. A package substrate, by contrast, carries a semiconductor chip and connects it to an external board. Copper-clad laminate, used to make both, is an insulating material bonded with copper foil, and prepreg is an intermediate laminating material impregnated with resin. Both sit upstream of the finished board, and their procurement conditions differ from those for the manufacturing equipment installed in a factory. Panasonic Industry has raised prices of these electronic circuit board materials by 15–30%, and Chairman Jian also pointed out that some key materials could face a supply shortfall of about 20% in 2027. However, that shortfall figure depends on future demand and does not mean every material will be uniformly short.
The problem is that rising material costs and the ability to increase output are separate issues. To meet AI demand, manufacturers must secure the materials needed for current production and also procure the equipment that will allow future expansion. Looking at these two constraints separately shows why board makers cannot respond immediately to a sharp rise in demand.
Some equipment needed for expansion now has 30-month lead times
According to Chairman Jian's explanation, reported by Economic Daily News on October 20, board materials such as T-glass fiberglass cloth, copper-clad laminate, and ABF, an insulating material used in semiconductor package substrates, are facing supply constraints. Supply and demand for these materials have been tight for one to two years, and AI-related demand growth has kept them difficult to obtain. On top of that, even when manufacturers try to raise capacity, they cannot quickly obtain the equipment they need.
According to Jian, lead times have lengthened for more than 80% of manufacturing equipment, and some specific models take 30 months, or two and a half years, to be delivered. This is not a lead time common to all equipment, but an extreme case for certain models. Even so, if delivery of equipment essential for expansion is delayed, companies cannot necessarily increase capacity as planned even after deciding to invest. When capacity can grow depends not only on whether investment funds are available but also on when the necessary equipment arrives.
Jian also noted that some key materials could face a supply shortfall of about 20% in 2027. This forecast comes with the condition that the outcome will change depending on how demand grows. It is not an outlook that all board materials will be 20% short, nor does it mean global PCB supply will fall 20% short. It also does not predict that shipments of finished PCs will decline by the same proportion. It should be read as a conditional supply-demand outlook for specific key materials.
A 15–30% price rise, 30-month equipment lead times, and a 20% shortfall are separate issues
On material prices, specific increases have already been announced. Panasonic Industry announced on August 6 that it would revise prices of electronic circuit board materials for shipments from September 1, 2026. The affected manufacturing sites include Koriyama and Yokkaichi-minami in Japan, as well as Guangzhou and Suzhou in China, Taiwan, and Ayutthaya in Thailand. The revision covers multiple product groups, and the size of the increase varies by material type.
Specifically, copper-clad laminate and prepreg for general multilayer boards will rise 30%, while those used with MEGTRON/XPEDION low-transmission-loss materials will rise 15%. Copper-clad laminate and prepreg used with LEXCM GX substrate material will rise 30%, and CEM-3 will rise 30% and FCCL 15%. In other words, the revisions fall within a 15–30% range, but not all board materials are rising by the same percentage.
Panasonic's price revision rates, the equipment lead times described by Unimicron, and the 2027 material shortfall forecast are all figures related to supply constraints in the board industry, but each has a different target and meaning. The disclosed information can be summarized as follows.
| Metric | Target | Timing / period | Meaning and caveats |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15–30% | Panasonic's covered electronic circuit board materials | Shipments from September 1, 2026 | Announced price revision rates. Not price increases for finished PCs |
| 30 months | Manufacturing equipment for certain specific models | As explained on October 20, 2026 | Equipment lead time. Not the lead time for all equipment or for finished boards |
| About 20% | Some key board materials | 2027 forecast | Shortfall outlook that depends on demand trends. Does not apply to all materials or finished PCs |
Thus, 15–30% is the price revision rate for materials, 30 months is the lead time for some manufacturing equipment, and about 20% is the future supply shortfall rate for specific materials. Because their targets, units, and degree of certainty all differ, they cannot be compared directly or used to calculate effects from one another. In particular, it would be wrong to substitute the rate of increase in material prices for the price increase of finished PCs. Material costs are only part of a PC's manufacturing cost, and the basis for calculating prices differs between board materials and finished products.
Panasonic's reason for revising prices is also not limited to growing AI demand. The company cited continued increases in main raw material prices, as well as persistently high prices for secondary materials, energy, and logistics, saying it had become difficult to absorb cost increases through its own rationalization efforts alone. In other words, the rise in manufacturing costs borne by material makers and the time board makers need to procure expansion equipment arise from different factors. To gauge the board industry's supply capacity, it is necessary to check the procurement situation for both materials and equipment, not just price movements.
AI board demand is also affecting material procurement for industrial and automotive uses
The mechanism by which growing AI demand affects boards for other uses is also explained in a document released on August 18 by Würth Elektronik and STARTEAM GLOBAL. According to the two companies, demand for high-quality laminate materials for AI data centers and HPC (high-performance computing) has surged, squeezing the supply capacity available for industrial and automotive equipment. Even companies that do not directly procure boards for AI servers may be affected by shortages if they share the same upstream materials. As AI-related production takes priority, companies in conventional applications find it harder to secure the materials they need.
The document explains that the number of layers in AI server boards reaches three to five times that of conventional designs. This shows that boards for high-performance AI systems are becoming increasingly multilayered. However, it is not a figure comparing material usage for the same area or design conditions. Even if the layer count is three to five times higher, material consumption and manufacturing costs cannot be calculated as uniformly three to five times higher.
Supply pressure is not limited to copper-clad laminate and copper foil. Würth Elektronik and STARTEAM GLOBAL also cite prepregs PP1080 and PP2116, high-performance resins, and tungsten carbide, the material for the drill bits and router tools used in board processing. They also relayed industry experts' view that it is hard to expect a major improvement in the supply of glass fiber cloth before 2028. However, this is an outlook for specific materials, not a forecast that the board industry's overall shortage will be resolved in 2028.
As a result of these constraints, the board industry is seeing higher material prices and longer lead times, along with a growing tendency to allocate supply volumes strictly by customer. Würth Elektronik and STARTEAM GLOBAL also point to moves to secure future production capacity over the long term. When material makers allocate limited supply among customers, buyers are not guaranteed the quantities they want even if they accept the quoted prices. For board makers, an important procurement condition is not only the price at which they can buy materials but also when they can receive the quantities they need.
Securing materials and the timing of equipment installation will determine future supply capacity
While AI-driven demand is tightening material allocations, manufacturers must also wait a long time for the equipment needed to expand output. With these two constraints overlapping, it is difficult to judge from capital expenditure or material price trends alone when supply capacity will actually grow. In PC-related procurement as well, it is necessary to check separately the material prices, the quantities that can be secured through allocation, and when expansion equipment will be installed. Even accepting a price increase does not by itself secure the needed materials or increase board supply.
In response to this situation, Würth Elektronik and STARTEAM GLOBAL stress the importance of forecasting demand early, qualifying alternative materials, and drawing up procurement plans. Beyond estimating required volumes in advance, companies need to confirm whether they can switch to another material if supply runs short. Using an alternative material also requires evaluating whether it meets the quality and performance needed for the target product. Separately from price negotiations, it is important to pin down which materials will be received, when, and in what quantity.
Meanwhile, Unimicron's Jian said the company has shared its capacity plans not only with customers but also with their customers and with suppliers. According to Economic Daily News, in the second half of 2026 these business partners began to respond positively to expansion. Although sharing demand and capital investment plans across the supply chain is progressing, that alone does not necessarily resolve material shortages or equipment delivery delays. Whether willingness to expand translates into actual capacity growth depends on whether the necessary materials and equipment can be secured on schedule.
The focus going forward is on two points: how much of the necessary materials board makers can secure according to plan, and when they can install expansion equipment. Even if material supply increases, capacity cannot be raised sufficiently if equipment is not ready in time; conversely, even if equipment is in place, operations cannot increase if materials are short. When supply constraints in the board industry tied to AI demand ease will depend on how well securing materials and installing manufacturing equipment progress in step.