If you've sourced PCBs in 2026, you've already noticed: quotes expire faster, lead times stretch longer, and some materials are simply unavailable at any price.
This isn't suppliers "price gouging." It's a supply crisis triggered by AI computing demand, radiating from the raw material level through the entire industry chain.
This guide explains what's happening with PP (prepreg) — the core material for multilayer PCBs — and what hardware engineers can do to navigate the shortage.
Prepreg (PP) is the core material used to manufacture multilayer PCBs. It consists of glass fiber fabric impregnated with epoxy resin. Under high temperature and pressure, it melts and bonds the various circuit layers together while providing electrical insulation.
Simply put: without PP, there are no multilayer boards.
And multilayer boards are precisely what AI servers, 5G base stations, and high-performance computing equipment demand. AI server PCBs have moved from traditional 8-12 layers to 20-30 layers or more — driving PP consumption up exponentially.
Since March 2026, industry leader Kingboard Laminates has issued six price increase notices, with PP product price hikes of 10%, 10%, 10%, 20%, 15%, and 15% respectively. Other major material suppliers like Nan Ya Plastics, Taiwan Union Technology, and ITEQ have followed suit, with price increases for high-end PP typically ranging from 20% to 30%.
More significantly, the pricing mechanism itself has changed. The traditional monthly fixed-price model has "failed," and the market has shifted entirely to real-time pricing. Daily cost fluctuations have become the industry norm.
One PCB manufacturer executive admitted: "Even with sufficient cash on hand, it's difficult to secure stable material supply for our production lines." The market has moved from "routine procurement" to a state of "scrambling for materials to maintain production."
AI servers consume several times more high-end PP than traditional PCBs. When upstream substrate manufacturers prioritize their capacity toward high-margin AI computing, supply shortages become inevitable.
According to industry data, a single AI server's PCB value is nearly 10x that of a traditional server, with layer counts generally reaching 20-40 layers.
PP production depends heavily on electronic glass fiber fabric, specialty epoxy resin, copper foil, and other materials. Currently, delivery lead times for core manufacturing equipment for high-end electronic glass fiber fabric have extended significantly, making short-term capacity increases extremely limited.
Specialty resin imports for high-speed PP face high dependency on overseas sources, and supply volatility abroad has further tightened domestic material availability.
Even as upstream companies accelerate capacity expansion, PP production line construction, process commissioning, and downstream customer qualification are time-consuming processes with high barriers — making it difficult to generate new effective supply in the short term.
PP price hikes are just the tip of the iceberg. Copper, electronic glass fabric, PPE resin, and other materials are all in states of "severe shortage."
But the cost pass-through is uneven. Some companies report they are actively negotiating cost-sharing with downstream customers, with recent price increases "gradually being implemented." However, for smaller manufacturers with weaker bargaining power, rising raw material costs are eroding already-thin margins and further accelerating the industry's "K-shaped divergence."
Don't use "last month's price" to estimate this month's costs. Real-time pricing has become the norm — budgets need to leave enough room for flexibility.
| What to Do | Why |
|---|---|
| Build 15-20% buffer into BOM cost estimates | Material prices can change weekly |
| Request updated quotes weekly | Don't rely on 30-day-old pricing |
| Track material index trends | Follow copper, resin, and glass fabric prices |
Industry leaders are signing annual contracts to lock in capacity and procurement prices in advance, mitigating spot market volatility. If your project requires multilayer boards, planning ahead and ordering early may be more practical than "waiting for prices to drop."
Never design a stackup that depends on a single material with no qualified alternative. For every critical laminate, identify at least one substitute with similar electrical properties.
| Primary Material | Alternative 1 | Alternative 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Megtron 6 | TUC TU-87P SLN | Isola I-Tera MT40 |
| Megtron 7 | Isola I-Speed | TUC TU-933+ |
| FR408HR | Shengyi S1000-2M | Ventec VT-47 |
| Rogers RO4003C | Isola Astra MT77 | TUC TU-862 HF |
Share your forecasts and material requirements early. The earlier they know, the better they can plan. Customers who share forward demand visibility are often in a better position to secure capacity and key materials.
Consider material availability during the design phase — not after the design is complete. Confirming material availability during the design phase has become essential.
The AI computing wave has now reached every link in the PCB industry chain — from "high-end board order surges" downstream, to "PP scrambling" in the middle, to "copper, resin, glass fiber price increases" upstream.
For hardware engineers, understanding this transmission chain may be more important than understanding the impedance control of a single trace.
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