Taiwan-based PCB manufacturing equipment maker Chime Ball Technology has revealed that its production capacity has been fully booked for the third quarter of 2011, and demand for its products, notably automatic exposure machines, will remain strong in the fourth quarter.

Sales of fully- and semi-automatic exposure equipment in China have been strong since the beginning of 2011 due to an industry-wide upgrade of manufacturing process touched off by rising wages and labor shortages, the company explained.

Global demand for fully- and semi-automatic exposure machines for PCB production tops 300 units a year, with Chime Ball taking up an 80% share in the semi-automatic segment, the company stated.

However, the company also saw revenues generated by sales of its fully automatic models double in the first half of 2011, pushing the segment's revenues to account for 24% of total revenues at present, up from 10% for all of 2010, said the company.