Electronic chemical materials refer to a variety of fine chemicals used in the manufacturing of integrated circuits, discrete devices, capacitors, batteries, printed circuit boards (PCBs), liquid crystal displays (LCDs), and other electronic components. These materials represent a fusion of electronic materials and high-tech fine chemicals. Photoresists are among the electronic chemical materials with the highest technical barriers to entry. Depending on downstream applications, photoresists can be categorized into types such as those for semiconductors, LCDs, and PCBs, with technical barriers decreasing in that order.

Photoresists for PCBs come in three main types: dry film photoresists, wet film photoresists, and photo-imageable solder resist inks; among these, wet film photoresists offer superior performance compared to dry film photoresists. Wet film photoresists are expected to gradually replace dry film photoresists in the future. Compared to their dry film counterparts, wet film photoresists offer advantages such as higher precision and lower costs, while also facilitating the high resolution needed to meet the demanding performance requirements of PCBs.

Driven by the rapid development of the electronic information industry, the total demand in the photoresist market continues to rise. According to research by HJ Research, the global photoresist market was valued at approximately $9 billion in 2020; within this total, the market size for PCB photoresists was approximately $2.15 billion, LCD photoresists were approximately $2.36 billion, and semiconductor photoresists were approximately $1.46 billion.

The LCD photoresist market is projected to grow at an annual rate of approximately 4% over the next five years, with photoresists for color filters accounting for about 4% of the material costs for LCD panels. Color filters are a critical component of LCD color displays, representing roughly 15% of the total manufacturing cost of a color LCD panel. Photoresists (comprising both color and black varieties) are the core manufacturing materials for color filters, accounting for approximately 27% of the total material cost. Of this, black photoresists make up 6–8%, while color photoresists account for about 20%. Global supply is concentrated in regions such as Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, which collectively hold over 90% of the market share. Key manufacturers of color photoresists include JSR Corporation, LG Chem, Toyo Ink Co., Ltd., Sumitomo Chemical, and Mitsubishi Chemical. Major manufacturers of black photoresists include Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Co., Ltd., Nippon Steel Chemical & Material, Mitsubishi Chemical, and ADEKA Corporation.

In the PCB photoresist industry, the global market size in 2020 was approximately US$1 billion for dry film photoresists, US$620 million for wet film photoresists, and US$530 million for photo-imageable solder resist inks. Market concentration is relatively high across these sectors. In the dry film photoresist industry, three companies—Eternal Materials, Asahi Kasei, and Hitachi Chemical—account for over 80% of the global market share. In the wet film photoresist industry, Chang Chun Chemical (Taiwan) and Mitsui Chemicals hold more than 40% of the global market share. In the photo-imageable solder resist ink industry, Taiwan Taiyo Ink Co., Ltd. accounts for approximately 60% of the global market share. In the semiconductor photoresist industry, the global market size for g-line and i-line photoresists was approximately US$350 million in 2020, while the global market for KrF photoresists stood at around US$320 million. Currently, the core technologies for KrF and ArF photoresists are essentially dominated by Japanese and US companies, which together hold a market share of over 95%. The technological capabilities of these Japanese and US firms in the field of high-resolution photoresists far surpass those of other companies.