The biggest challenge in 2026 isn't the PCB — it's the material
The biggest challenge in 2026 isn't producing PCBs, but the availability of the materials they are made from.
That was already predicted earlier this year by various players in the electronics industry. By now we can confirm that it is indeed becoming visible in the market.
For #protoPCBs the consequences still seem limited for the time being. Over the years we have gained experience with many PCB suppliers, and we usually still manage to get PCBs quickly. But with special materials, we are now seeing lead times increase.
For example, we recently received a request for a PCB made of Rogers material. The expected lead time was a whopping 2 to 3 weeks! The same goes for other high-speed and special PCB materials.
The cause lies mainly in the enormous demand from AI applications:
Manufacturers of laminates and other base materials are increasingly shifting their capacity towards high-grade low-loss materials used in AI servers, data centres and advanced networking equipment.
This has consequences for the entire chain: * Longer lead times for special materials * Rising prices for laminates and copper foil * Higher PCB prices * Reduced availability of certain materials
And according to current expectations, this situation won't change any time soon. Investment in AI infrastructure keeps growing and new data centres are being built worldwide.
Does this mean your development project now has to wait too?
Fortunately, not always.
In some cases it is possible to first validate part of the design on a standard PCB technology. Firmware, interfaces, communication and a large part of the functionality can often already be tested while the final PCB with special materials is still in production.
With DeltaProto's split delivery you first receive the simple version for validation and later the (more) definitive version for qualification and series preparation.
That way development keeps moving, even when the materials market throws a spanner in the works.
#SuperFastProtoPCBAs
