Cost of PCB Assembly Including Components, PCB, and Assembly

When you request a quote for PCB assembly (PCBA), one of the first questions is: What is the cost of PCB assembly? For this reason, many of our clients would want us to quote for different quantities, as the PCBA unit prices are different.

The cost of PCB assembly is not fixed and depends on PCB fabrication, components procurement, fixtures, engineering, and post-assembly services like functional testing, conformal coating, and box build assembly.

At PCBONLINE, a source factory for PCB and PCBA manufacturing, we provide high-reliability PCB assembly services with transparent costs. In this article, we will break down the cost of PCB assembly, explain why component pricing dominates the budget, and how PCBONLINE can help you lower the PCB assembly cost without quality sacrifice.

What does the Cost of PCB Assembly Include?

The cost of PCB assembly consists of several parts:

PCB manufacturing – The cost of fabricating the bare printed circuit boards. The PCB manufacturing cost depends on circuit complexity, PCB substrate materials (FR4, PI, PTFE, ceramics, copper, or aluminum), copper thickness, surface finish, and requirements such as HDI or impedance control.

Components procurement – The largest portion of the PCB assembly cost, especially for volume orders. The bill of materials (BOM) can contain hundreds of parts, from resistors and capacitors to high-value ICs.

Assembly process – The cost of the PCB assembly process, where electronic components are automatically placed and soldered on the PCB pads. The PCB assembly process includes solder paste printing, pick-and-place, pre-reflow AOI, reflow soldering, AOI after reflow, X-ray inspection, THT (through-hole) soldering, and manual touch-up when necessary.

Fixture and engineering fees – Small but necessary costs such as the flexible PCB assembly fixture, SMT stencil, and engineering.

Testing costs – For high-quality PCBA, functional testing and aging (burn-in) testing may be included. These fees are usually modest compared to component costs but are essential for reliability.

Conformal coating and IC programming - The conformal coating is applied as a protective coating layer onto the PCBA against moisture, dust, and chemicals to extend its service life. IC programming is loading the software or program into the IC on the PCBA. Their fees are also modest in the total cost of PCB assembly.

Box build and final assembly – If customers require complete product assembly, additional costs include enclosures, cables, connectors, mechanical hardware, product enclosure assembly, and final product testing.

Thus, the cost of a PCBA is not only about placing components on a PCB but a comprehensive combination of materials, labor, and engineering.

Components Take up Most Part in the Cost of PCB Assembly

Among all cost factors, components take up the largest percentage of a PCB assembly cost. For volume production, component cost can account for more than 70% of the total.

The most expensive parts are control and processing ICs, such as MCUs (Microcontroller units), GPUs (graphics processing units), FPGAs (field-programmable gate arrays), ESP32, and other wireless SoCs.

Passive components like resistors and capacitors are inexpensive, but ICs can cost several dollars to hundreds of dollars each. This is why component sourcing efficiency is critical to keeping PCBA prices competitive.

PCBONLINE's Advantages in Reducing Component Costs

PCBONLINE provides strong advantages in component sourcing that directly benefit our clients:

• BOM consolidation – We combine BOM procurement across multiple customer orders to achieve bulk discounts and lower unit prices.
• Large warehouse inventory – Our PCBA factory stocks around 1 million commonly used components. Additionally, we operate four temperature- and humidity-controlled storage cabinets for sensitive and high-value ICs. This allows us to supply most parts for prototype PCBA directly from stock, reducing prototype costs significantly.
• Global procurement network – With a purchasing team headquartered in Hong Kong and 220+ sourcing channels worldwide, we leverage regional price differences to obtain the lowest possible prices for genuine components.
• Direct partnerships with MCU companies – PCBONLINE maintains strategic cooperation with leading semiconductor companies such as Espressif. This ensures a stable supply and cost advantages for popular chips like ESP32.

With these strengths, PCBONLINE guarantees customers cost-effective component sourcing without compromising authenticity or reliability.

Prototype vs. Mass PCB Assembly Costs

One common question is why prototype PCBA often costs more per unit than mass production. The reasons are below.

Stencils and fixtures: No matter what quantity of PCBAs, we will provide a professional solder paste stencil and sometimes PCBA fixtures if required. For small runs, the unit cost of PCB assembly is increased.

Same SMT conditions: Prototype PCBA at PCBONLINE is run on the same automated SMT production lines as mass production, ensuring identical quality.

Small component quantities: For prototypes, components are often purchased in small packaging or cut tape, which increases unit cost compared to reel purchases for volume orders.

As a result, prototype PCBAs usually have a higher unit price, even though the quantity is small. However, the cost of prototype PCB assembly investment is necessary to ensure prototypes are representative of mass production quality.

Special Requirements May Add to the Cost of PCB Assembly

PCBONLINE focuses on PCBAs for mid to high-end applications. Thus, special PCB requirements such as fine-pitch components (01005, 0201) or thick copper PCBs may raise some concerns about higher assembly costs. However, at PCBONLINE, our SMT assembly lines are already designed to handle these cases, so there is no cost increase in their assembly.

• Fine-pitch components: Our engineers optimize stencil aperture design, and our Yamaha SMT pick-and-place machines are capable of accurately placing 01005 and 0201 components. It does not increase the PCB assembly.
• Thick-copper PCBs: We simply adjust the reflow oven profile to increase the reflow temperatures to ensure complete soldering. It does not increase the PCB assembly.
• Flexible PCBs: Flexible PCBs require a fixture to fix them during the SMT assembly process, as they are lightweight and easy to move. The FPC SMT fixture slightly adds to the assembly cost.

fixtures for flexible PCB assembly

The main cost differences come from the PCB fabrication process and the components used, not from the PCB assembly process.

Why the Cost of PCB Assembly Cannot Be Fixed

PCB assembly doesn't have a fixed price. The costs of PCB assembly vary because the following factors are different for each PCBA project:

• Bill of Materials (BOM) contents
• PCB requirements
• Order quantity
• Testing and value-added services
• Enclosure, cables, and mechanical parts (if box build is included)

As a rough guide, our PCBA unit costs (including PCB, components, assembly, and testing) can range from as low as $2 to several hundred dollars, depending on project requirements. Each project must be quoted individually.

Part 5. Partner with PCBONLINE for Turnkey PCB Assembly

Choose PCBONLINE as your PCB assembly partner from prototypes to mass production. PCBONLINE is a PCB and PCBA source factory. We complete the entire process in-house, ensuring both cost control and quality consistency.

• Free stencil and fixture design – Included with every project.
• DFM engineering support – Our team checks design files before production to improve manufacturability and reduce rework costs.
• Trusted manufacturing partners – For models, SMT stencils, fixtures, and enclosures, we cooperate with the top 3 mold factories in China, ensuring precision and reliability.

Founded in 2005, our two advanced PCB manufacturing bases are in Jiangsu and Jiangxi Provinces, and our turnkey PCB assembly factory is in Shenzhen. Besides, we have an R&D team and a global supply network. We also keep strategic cooperation with the top 3 fixture and enclosure manufacturers in China to manufacture the custom PCBA fixtures and device enclosures.

Whether you need PCB assembly manufacturing for consumer IoT devices, creative electronic products, medical-grade products, etc, we ensure that both PCBA performance and final product presentation meet the highest standards. To get a quote for your PCBA project, email us at info@pcbonline.com.

Conclusion

The cost of PCB assembly covers PCB fabrication, components procurement, component assembly, tooling, testing, and box build services. The components cost dominates the cost of PCB assembly, especially for high-value ICs like MCUs, GPUs, and FPGAs. If you are looking for a reliable and cost-efficient PCBA partner, contact PCBONLINE, which provides one-stop PCB manufacturing and assembly.