Three aspects perspective connector market status

As a key component of current or signal connection, connector is also an important part of industrial system. From aircraft and rockets to mobile phones and televisions, connectors appear in various forms to build Bridges between circuits or other components and assume the role of current or signal connection. According to the latest research report released by FMI, the global cable and connector market will reach $125.3 billion in revenue by 2022.

On the Chinese mainland, there are more than 1,000 connector manufacturers, including about 300 foreign-invested enterprises and more than 700 local manufacturers, mainly in the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta. Domestic connector manufacturers are generally small in scale and weak in strength. Only some domestic manufacturers have real R & D and manufacturing capabilities, and some military enterprises have certain advantages in technology research and development. However, the product application field is mainly concentrated on military products, civil production capacity and supply capacity is insufficient.

Three aspects perspective connector market status

Under the trend of automobile electronization, with the growth of the demand for new energy vehicles, the market potential of Chinese connectors in the automotive field is gradually prominent, and the market size will maintain rapid growth. Some entrepreneurs even assert that automotive connectors have become the fastest growing segment in the automotive parts sector. However, besides cars, what are the market segments for connectors in China?

To be specific, there are mainly the following aspects:

From the perspective of app market, trade industries including IT& Communications, electronics and healthcare are the most demanding app markets. At the same time, the popularity of cloud technology and the Internet of Things technology will further increase the demand for reliable, high-performance, high-security data connection and transmission, driving the growth of market demand in the cable and connector market. In terms of growth rates, oil and gas is the largest application market with the largest compound annual growth rate.

Consumer market: The survey showed that consumer electronics game consoles, MP3 players, mobile phones, LCDTV, driven by booming demand for digital cameras, continued to rise in performance.

Medical market: According to BCCResearch, the annual growth rate of the global home medical device market continues to rise, and medical electronics will become a new growth point for connector applications.

Mobile phone market: Connectors are one of the most important devices in mobile phones. On average, each phone needs eight connectors, and global smartphone shipments are growing at a compound annual rate of 24 percent. As the mobile phone market continues to develop, the mobile phone connector market will continue to rise. Connectors for mobile phones are divided into internal FPC connectors and board-to-board connectors. External I/O connectors, batteries, SIM card connectors, and camerasocket. Influenced by the demand market of 5G mobile phones and smart phones, the current development direction of mobile phone connectors is: low height, small pitch, multi-function, good electromagnetic compatibility, standardization and customization.

Automotive market: The automotive connector market is the largest connector segment, with the typical light vehicle having approximately 1,500 connections. According to Bishop&Associate, the automotive connector market is expected to continue to grow.

Computer market: Global shipments of mobile computing devices, including tablets, Internet-connected computers, smart computers and laptops, will maintain a compound annual growth rate of 19.1 percent, according to In-Stat. About 5-12 sets of connectors are used in computers. The steady development of the computer market promotes the continuous growth of the demand for connectors.

From the perspective of installation types, the cable and connector market is divided into internal and external, with the demand for internal cable and connector expected to grow faster in the next six years, mainly due to the micro-development of electronic products and the popularization of 5G wireless technology.

From the perspective of product types, CAT cables and connectors are the main demand products due to the growing demand for high-performance and long-distance connections, but by 2022, USB cables and connectors are expected to usher in new changes in the connector market in China with the growing demand for high-speed data transmission.

With the increasing popularity of electric vehicles such as Tesla and the influx of Internet companies en masse, the impact of new technologies on the traditional auto industry is accelerating changes in the auto industry. Now the car is not just a means of transportation. When new words such as environmental protection, energy saving and entertainment intelligence are combined with cars, they also indirectly help the connector bring new development opportunities.

New energy and electronic vehicles are fueling the growing demand for automotive connectors. New demands in the automotive industry, such as new energy vehicles and driverless vehicles, are bringing more stringent requirements to traditional connector manufacturers, but it is these new dynamics that will spur the continued rise of the automotive connector market in the future.

USBType-C is the new driving force for connectors in consumer electronics. With the adoption of USBtype-c technology in several popular mobile devices this year, it is expected that the specification will gradually become the mainstream of the industry in the future and will bring new growth points to the connector market.

Internet of Things wearability will be the next growth area for connectors. The Internet of Things is also known as the Internet of everything, and the corresponding connector will undoubtedly play an important role in that. The trend is particularly pronounced in wearables. Today, global electronic component manufacturers are trying to gain a foothold in "wearable" devices, where miniaturization is an absolute priority.

Smart factories and robots will make industrial connectors explode. With the development of industrial manufacturing towards automation and intelligence, connectors widely used in mechanical equipment, factory automation, power distribution and railway fields are naturally the focus of development. For "Industry 4.0" and "intelligent production" solutions and technologies, connectors that can affect the production efficiency of stamping, injection molding, assembly, crimping and other modules naturally need new upgrades.

At present, the degree of intelligence is still in the initial stage. Despite the trend of domain controller transformation, the market size of high-speed wiring harnesses will continue to rise with the trend of intelligence. First, as more sensors are added, the amount of wiring harnesses will increase significantly. Second, as autonomous driving is upgraded and sensor performance improves, data transmission requirements will increase significantly.

With the improvement of domestic cable and connector synchronous development and independent research and development capabilities, coupled with cost advantages and localized service advantages, China's auto parts industry has gradually realized domestic substitution. As a result, some domestic manufacturers will also be able to enjoy a domestic substitution dividend, resulting in greater performance elasticity, with the improvement of intelligent development and the continuous expansion of market size.