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CSCI-Stock Connect-Electronics：LCP antenna growth to explode - 20180319

LCP antenna growth to explode

Apple spearheads LCP antenna adoption. Last year, Apple launched its trilogy of the iPhone X/8 Plus/8. Going with these flagship models is an emerging breed of antenna made with liquid crystal polymer flexible printed circuit board (LCP FPCB), which is highly regarded for enabling high-speed, low-latency data transfer, among other advantages, while at a cost 20 times that of the conventional polyimide (PI) antenna used in the iPhone 7. Looking ahead, Apple is understood to have each of its three new iPhone releases due in 2018 fit with 2-3 LCP antennas, and to expand LCP FPCB application to the future iPad/MacBook/Apple Watch models.

Smartphone LCP antenna market estimated to balloon to USD4.2bn by 2021 from USD372mn in 2017. Following in the footsteps of Apple, the Android camp is also expected to switch to LCP antenna to cater for more compact internal design/higher frequencies/faster data transmission. On the other hand, coming on the heels of Samsung and Huawei, Apple's 2018 iPhone lineup will evolve from 2X2 MIMO to 4x4 MIMO which requires the use of more antennas. Considering that Apple now commands over half of the global smartphone market, this would significantly bump up LCP antenna demand down the line. Meanwhile, there is growing LCP FPCB demand from USB interface manufacturers as well in order to upgrade to USB 3.2.

iPhone LCP antenna supply chain taking shape. To our knowledge, Murata will continue to be Apple’s exclusive supplier of the foldable MetroCirc circuit board throughout 2018, also together with Career providing Apple with iPhone LCP antennas, with Zhen Ding Technology likely to jump into the fray this year. In terms of the LCP antenna module market, now that Murata has quit, Apple has selected Luxshare Precision (002475:CH) as its new major supplier alongside Amphenol, with the former estimated to carve out a 30-50% market share in 2018. Other key A-share players taking a piece of the action include LCP FPCB module maker Shenzhen Sunway Communication (300136:CH) and LCP FCCL maker Shengyi Technology (600183:CH).