LCP film industry has high technical threshold and highly concentrated market

LCP film is a more unique insulating material with the advantages of high gas barrier properties, low dielectric constant, and low moisture absorption. It is mainly used in the 5G field. In 5G signal transmission, if special insulation materials are not used, signals will interfere with each other and seriously hinder 5G applications. With the development of the 5G industry, the application demand of LCP film as a special insulation material continues to rise.

According to the released “2022-2026 Global LCP Film Industry In-depth Market Research and Key Area Research Report” shows that in addition to the 5G field Since LCP film has good flexibility and dielectric properties, it can meet the development requirements of miniaturization of electronic products and has good application prospects in the field of high-frequency flexible copper-clad laminates. However, due to the difficulty in processing LCP films and the high technical threshold, there are currently few commercialized products. The industry is still in the early stages of development and has huge potential for future development.

LCP film production methods mainly include solution casting method, biaxial stretching method, melt casting method, and blown film method. Among them, the biggest advantage of the solution casting method is that the processing equipment is relatively simple and mature, the longitudinal and transverse orientations are easy to control, and can be directly processed into single-sided FCCL products. At the same time, very thin LCP films can be processed, which can minimize material costs; using special The LCP film produced by the biaxial stretching method has the advantages of good vertical and horizontal matching and good thickness tolerance, and can produce thicker LCP films. However, this production process has the highest equipment requirements, complex processing technology, large investment, and PTFE materials expensive. Currently, only Japan’s Murata and Gore have realized the industrialization of this production process, which has a very high technical threshold and poses high investment risks to late entrants.

The LCP film produced by the melt casting method has obvious longitudinal orientation and is easily torn in the transverse direction. However, it should be called an LCP sheet. It has good thickness uniformity and can directly produce FCCL. It has low equipment requirements. The LCP produced by this method The film has high rigidity and is theoretically not suitable for flexible copper-clad laminates. It is more suitable for rigid copper-clad laminates. The blown film method is currently the most mature and commercialized LCP film production process. It has the most patent reports and the equipment investment is relatively small. The technology maturity is the highest. At present, Kuraray uses the blown film method to manufacture LCP films. The product application is mature and has the highest market recognition. However, the blown film method cannot produce thicker LCP films, and the thickness uniformity is poor. At the same time, the LCP film obtained by the blown film method must undergo offline heat treatment, which prolongs the production route and increases the difficulty of processing. At present, there are no qualified industrial-grade products on the market in China.

In addition to smartphones, LCP films can also be used in earphone diaphragms, high-barrier packaging films, automotive radar and the Internet of Things. With my country’s vigorous development in the 5G industry and the integrity of the electronic product industry chain, the demand and usage of LCP films will surely increase dramatically with each passing day, and the application prospects are broad.

Industry analysts said that currently the major companies that can produce LCP films globally include Japan’s Kuraray, Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd., and Chiyoda several companies. In recent years, my country has carried out a lot of research work on LCP films, and has made great progress from LCP film-grade resin to film-forming technology, but there is still a huge gap with foreign countries.