Since 2026, the global electronics and information technology industry has experienced severe turbulence due to geopolitical conflicts and the explosive growth of AI computing power.
Printed circuit boards (PCBs), often referred to as the “mother of electronic products,” saw a 40% surge in a single month in April—the “strongest price hike in history”—with cost pressures being passed down to downstream sectors such as display panels, LED displays, and semiconductor packaging.
Meanwhile, driven by both surging AI demand and the approaching physical limits of organic substrates, display glass substrates and packaging glass substrates are rapidly gaining industry attention due to their cost stability and performance advantages.
PCB Price Hike Cycle Begins as Structural Imbalance in Supply and Demand Emerges
This round of PCB price increases is not a short-term fluctuation, but rather a “supercycle” resulting from the convergence of sudden supply-side shocks and a structural surge in demand.
Supply-Side Constraints
High-purity polyphenylene oxide (PPE) is a key material in the manufacture of high-end copper-clad laminates (CCL).
In early April, geopolitical conflicts disrupted approximately 70% of the global supply of PPE resin.
Compounded by the continued surge in copper foil prices and the extension of lead times for key materials such as epoxy resin from 3 weeks to 15 weeks, raw material shortages have further exacerbated capacity constraints, instantly driving up PCB prices.
According to Goldman Sachs data, global PCB prices surged by 40% in April compared to March, far exceeding the historical record for a single-month increase.
Demand Surge from AI Computing
Demand-side factors have further fueled the surge: the explosion in AI computing power has sparked a surge in demand for high-end PCBs.
The global market for AI server PCBs is projected to grow by over 110% between 2026 and 2027, while demand for traditional PCBs is expected to grow by only about 3%.
The value of AI server PCBs is 5 to 10 times that of standard servers.
Limited production capacity is being significantly “squeezed out” by AI demand, causing the supply-demand gap for high-end capacity to continue widening.
Industry-Wide Price Hikes
A wave of price hikes has rapidly swept across the entire industry chain.
Japan’s Resonac and Mitsubishi Gas Chemical were the first to raise copper-clad laminate prices by more than 30%;
Taiwanese manufacturers such as Taiwan Semiconductor and Taiyo followed suit with price increases of 20% to 40%;
While leading mainland Chinese companies such as Kingboard and Shengyi Technology raised prices simultaneously.
Currently, delivery times for high-end PCBs have generally extended to over six months, and the shortage of high-end BT/ABF substrates exceeds 40%, with structural shortages becoming the norm in the industry.
Industry analysts predict that this round of PCB price increases will last at least through 2026 and may even extend into the first half of 2027.
Profits Under Pressure: A Turning Point for Packaging Technology
The cost shockwaves from rising PCB prices are rapidly spreading to downstream sectors, with the display panel and semiconductor packaging industries bearing the brunt of the impact.
As a result, these industries are facing forced adjustments to their business models and technology strategies.
Challenges in Display Panel Manufacturing
The display panel industry finds itself caught between a rock and a hard place regarding costs and pricing. LCD panel production relies on various core PCB components, such as power boards, driver boards, and timing control boards, with PCB costs accounting for approximately 12% to 15% of total panel manufacturing costs.
According to TrendForce data, price increases for materials like PCBs have raised panel manufacturers’ production costs by 4% to 5%.
However, the price increases for end-user panels are far lower than the rise in upstream material costs, significantly compressing panel manufacturers’ profit margins.
Impact on the LED Display Industry
The LED display industry has been hit even harder. Industry insiders reveal that PCBs and copper materials account for nearly one-third of the total cost of LED displays.
High-end applications, such as high-zone Mini-LED backlights and high-density interconnects, rely even more heavily on high-end PCBs, making the cost pressure particularly acute.
Under cost pressures, downstream manufacturers have been forced to raise prices collectively.
In early February, Leyard took the lead in announcing a 3% to 15% price increase for LED displays, explicitly citing rising costs for PCBs, LED chips, and ICs as the primary reasons; Subsequently, over 20 companies, including Aoto Electronics and Unilumin, followed suit with price adjustments, intensifying price volatility in the end-user market.
Supply Bottlenecks and Rising Material Costs
Analysts at Xinyou Research point out that, on one hand, PCB supply has become tight due to the continuous expansion of AI chip sizes, resulting in extremely unstable delivery times.
On the other hand, current price hikes for PCB raw materials—such as resin and fiberglass cloth—are driving up PCB prices, further amplifying cost pressures at the application level.
Leading manufacturers have begun accelerating their evaluation of alternative technical solutions.
Physical Limits of Traditional PCBs
Furthermore, traditional PCBs not only face supply bottlenecks but are also reaching the physical limits of their materials—their high coefficient of thermal expansion and tendency to warp at high temperatures make it difficult to meet the demands for high density, high heat dissipation, and high-speed data transmission.
Three core bottlenecks—packaging density, signal stability, and heat dissipation capacity—are rendering PCBs increasingly inadequate in the AI era, creating new opportunities for alternative materials.
Glass Substrates Enter a Golden Opportunity Period as Industrialization Accelerates
Driven by rising PCB prices, glass substrates have become the focus of the industry due to their unique advantages.
Unlike PCBs, which rely on materials prone to price fluctuations—such as copper foil, resin, and glass cloth—glass substrates use quartz sand as their core raw material.
This ensures a stable supply, minimizes vulnerability to geopolitical conflicts, and offers greater cost control.
Superior Performance for AI Applications
At the same time, glass’s inherent advantages in thermal stability, flatness, and electrical performance perfectly align with the high-end demands of AI applications.
Public data shows that the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of glass substrates can be precisely controlled between 3 ppm/°C and 9 ppm/°C, which is close to silicon’s range of 2.9 ppm/K to 4 ppm/K. High-temperature warpage is reduced by more than 70% compared to organic substrates, solving the problem of deformation in large-size chip packaging.
Its surface flatness far exceeds that of organic materials, enabling micron-level ultra-fine interconnects.
The via density is 10 times that of traditional silicon substrates, meeting the high-density interconnection requirements of AI chips.
In high-frequency signal transmission scenarios, glass substrates reduce transmission loss by 2 to 3 orders of magnitude compared to organic materials, while improving heat dissipation efficiency by 40%, enabling high-computing-power chips to operate stably for extended periods.
Additionally, glass offers strong insulation and excellent chemical stability, supporting the implementation of CPO (Co-Packaged Optics) technology, and the cost of panel-level packaging will be reduced by 66% compared to wafer-level packaging.
Leading Companies Enter the Market
Since 2026, leading companies such as Intel, TSMC, Apple, and Samsung have been actively entering the glass substrate market.
AMD, ASE, and NVIDIA have also incorporated glass substrates into their next-generation technology roadmaps.
Chinese companies have achieved localized development in the display glass substrate sector and are accelerating their expansion into the semiconductor packaging field.
Leveraging its deep technical expertise in glass substrates, BOE has actively entered the CoPoS glass substrate supply chain.
Woge Optoelectronics has mastered core technologies such as TGV (Through-Glass Via) for high-density vias, low-stress copper interconnects, and high-density glass-based RDL (Re-distribution Layer) circuits, with its products achieving phased progress in fields including next-generation displays, AI computing chips, and optical communications.
As China’s leading display glass substrate manufacturer, Rainbow Co., Ltd. has not only achieved breakthroughs in high-generation large-size glass production capacity to meet the demand for large-size CoPoS panels but is also actively advancing the R&D of packaging glass.
Additionally, companies such as Kaiseng Technology and Dongxu Optoelectronics are actively developing TGV-related products to meet high-end packaging demands.
Rising Adoption and Market Outlook
A representative from Rainbow Co., Ltd. analyzed for a reporter from China Electronics News: “As PCB prices rise, the feasibility of using glass-based packaging and glass-based substrates to replace certain PCB solutions has further increased.
The industry is increasingly inclined to use high-stability, cost-controlled glass materials to optimize the BOM (bill of materials) structure of finished products, and the penetration rate of glass-based packaging and glass-based circuit boards will continue to rise.”
According to Omdia data, the global glass substrate market is projected to reach $18.6 billion in 2026 and exceed $32 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.5%, far surpassing the approximately 6% growth rate of organic substrates.
Glass Substrates Set to Replace PCBs in AI Era
In the Short Term, It Serves Primarily as a Supplement and Complementary Solution.
In the Medium to Long Term, the Trend Toward Large-Scale Substitution is Clear
The PCB price hike cycle continues. The industry must rationally distinguish the positioning and pace of substitution for glass substrates.
Early Commercial Development
In the short term, glass substrates primarily supplement high-end applications.In the medium to long term, glass substrates will achieve large-scale substitution.
Glass substrates will become the core substrate material of the AI era.
In the short term, glass substrates are still in the early stages of commercial development.
Constrained by factors such as insufficient technical yield rates, limited mass production scale, and an incomplete supporting industrial chain, they are currently unable to fill the PCB supply gap or achieve large-scale substitution.
A semiconductor industry analyst from Shiyin pointed out to a reporter from China Electronics News that over the next one to two years, glass substrates will serve primarily as alternative solutions and technological reserves for high-end applications.
They will be piloted in high-performance, high-value-added scenarios such as AI chip packaging, high-zone MLED backlighting, and CPO carrier boards.
Market competition and large-scale substitution with traditional PCBs are expected to gradually materialize only two years from now.
Industry players have also confirmed this development timeline.
A representative from Woge Optoelectronics told “China Electronics News” that PCB price hikes have significantly increased downstream customers’ willingness to test and adopt glass-based solutions, but large-scale mass production in the industry will still take time.
Rainbow Co., Ltd. acknowledged that over the next two to three years, advanced glass-based packaging will remain in a transitional phase from R&D to commercialization.
The company will continue to advance technological research and product certification, with plans to complete key certification work between 2026 and 2027 and strive to achieve small-scale commercial deployment by 2028.
Long-Term Mainstream Adoption
In the long term, as TGV process yields improve, mass production costs decrease, and the ecosystem matures, glass substrates are expected to evolve from a “supplementary solution” to a mainstream application.
Industry analysts predict that after 2028, glass substrates will see large-scale adoption in fields such as AI servers, high-performance computing, and 5G/6G communications, gradually replacing traditional organic substrates.
With their dual advantages in performance and cost, glass substrates are poised to become the core foundational material supporting advanced packaging, display panels, and AI computing power in the post-Moore’s Law era, reshaping the landscape of the electronics industry supply chain.
Strategic Opportunity for China
Industry insiders emphasize that the current PCB price hike cycle is not only a short-term supply chain crisis but also a catalyst for long-term technological transformation.
For China’s industry, the PCB price surge has exposed the risks of reliance on foreign sources for high-end basic materials and highlighted the strategic value of indigenous technologies such as glass substrates.
Currently, glass substrates are at a critical inflection point, transitioning from “technology validation” to “commercial implementation,” and the PCB price hike has created a valuable window of opportunity for raising awareness and introducing products.
Chinese companies must seize this opportunity to accelerate technological breakthroughs and capacity planning, overcome core bottlenecks such as TGV, glass wafer manufacturing, and high-density wiring, and improve the supporting infrastructure of the industrial chain.
At the same time, downstream enterprises in sectors such as panel manufacturing and packaging can moderately advance pilot applications of glass substrates to diversify supply chain risks and secure a technological advantage.