In January 2026, the China Electronic Circuit Industry Association, together with five leading EMS enterprises, released the *SMT Process Material Supply and Demand Dynamic Quarterly Monitoring Report*, which states that the total SMT Solder Procurement volume in the fourth quarter of 2025 reached 5,860 tons, a year-on-year increase of 12.3%. Among this, the proportion of lead-free high-temperature solder rose to 67.4%, with the main increments coming from the batch introduction of automotive-grade MCU module packaging, AI accelerator card double-sided Reflow Soldering processes, and TWS earphone high-density mounting scenarios. Meanwhile, traditional consumer electronics OEM customers have narrowed the tolerance for deviations in solder metal composition to within ±0.15%, putting forward higher requirements for inter-batch melting point stability.

The 12 domestic SMT Solder suppliers covered by the survey generally reported that the procurement costs of main materials such as silver and copper rose by 8.6% in the second half of 2025 compared with the beginning of the year. Coupled with occasional congestion at international logistics nodes, the average delivery period in the East China region was extended from 22 days to 29 days. As a result, some small and medium-sized EMS plants saw an increase of 0.7 times in monthly production line downtime frequency. To cope with this pressure, OEM leaders such as Luxshare Precision and Goertek have piloted an on-site quality collaboration mechanism for solder suppliers at their Dongguan and Hefei bases, and incorporated SMT solder into their JIT+VMI hybrid inventory model. By sharing MES production scheduling data, dynamic calibration of solder stock preparation has been achieved, and the solder turnover days of the pilot production lines have now been reduced to 14.2 days.

At the same time, the coordination process of industry technical standards has also accelerated. The revised version of IPC-7095C officially came into effect in December 2025, adding a recommended range of solder rheological parameters for 01005 component solder joint void rate ≤15%. Three mainstream domestic Solder Manufacturers have completed production line adaptation verification for the corresponding Solder Paste thixotropic index and slump height. However, the survey also shows that only 31% of medium-sized PCBA plants have the ability to independently conduct retesting of solder paste rheological properties, and most rely on supplier factory inspection reports. This capability gap is becoming a practical bottleneck restricting the precise implementation of SMT solder technical parameters.

In terms of regional supply pattern, the Yangtze River Delta region still accounts for 53.8% of the national SMT solder terminal delivery volume. However, the South China cluster, leveraging the advantage that the SMT equipment ownership in Shenzhen and Dongguan accounts for 38.2% of the national total, is accelerating the construction of process closed-loop verification capabilities for solder, stencils, and reflow ovens. In the fourth quarter of 2025, 7 local solder enterprises have completed joint process certification with equipment manufacturers such as ASM and DEK, with the certification cycle shortened by an average of 40%. This deepened collaboration between the equipment side and the material side is substantially rewriting the technical path of SMT solder from parameter definition to production line implementation.

It is worth noting that this survey did not find any mention by enterprises of progress in the so-called "large-scale commercial application of alternative new materials". All interviewees emphasized that the current technical upgrade focuses on fine-tuning and optimization within the existing tin-based alloy system, including control of the addition ratio of trace nickel elements, matching of the volatilization curve of Flux carriers, and expansion of the process window for low-temperature fast-curing solder paste in FPC reinforcement plate soldering. The logic of technological evolution has always been anchored to the bottom line of production line compatibility and yield assurance, rather than disruptive material substitution.