Product category:
Materials and components
News Release from: Frost and Sullivan
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 29 June 2001
Pricing key to UV Coatings future in
electronics
On the up-side for UV curable coatings, there will be a strong growth in the demand for optical fibres, where UV curable coatings hold almost 100% market share, according to a new report
UV curable coatings are used for a variety of purposes in the electronics and telecommunications industries including PCB and PWB manufacture and optical fibre coating In 2000 the total European market for UV curable coatings in these industries was valued at $115million with an annual growth rate of 10.8%
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 9 Aug 2000 at 8.00am (UK)
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One of the main areas of challenge to UV supremacy is a requirement for finer detail from solder masks and resist materials used on circuit boards.
As electronic devices get smaller and smaller and output legs get closer together there is a need for better definition from the patterning materials.
And that is where photoimaging comes in.
It is not that photoimaging is a new technique.
More that it is becoming a serious competitor thanks to sharply declining prices.
When photoimageable products first hit the market over 10 years ago they were up to three times the price per kg of UV Curable coatings and the relative cost per printed area was even higher.
But, as the market becomes more competitive and larger in volume, their prices have fallen to such an extent that they can no longer be seen as cost-prohibitive in the markets previously dominated by screen printing.
On the up-side for UV curable coatings, there will be a strong growth in the demand for optical fibres, where UV curable coatings hold almost 100% market share.
The coating is central in determining the material properties of the fibre and in some cases 75% by volume of an optical fibre is made up of the UV curable coating.
It is expected that strong partnerships will develop between coatings suppliers and fibre manufacturers.
But the suppliers will still have to watch the horizon for alternative technology even in this apparently safe market.
The report is a comprehensive study of the market for UV curable coatings in Europe and includes data on the printing and packaging, automotive, furniture and construction, electronics and telecom and consumer goods industries.
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