Analysis on market status and competition pattern of China's connector industry in 2019

Reference place connector.ic-ceca.org.cn/

1、 Connector industry overview

Connector is a functional element that connects, disconnects or converts circuits or optical channels with the help of electrical signals or optical signals and mechanical forces. It is used as the connection of electrical signals or optical signals between devices, components, equipment and systems, transmits signals or electromagnetic energy, and keeps the changes of signal distortion and energy loss between systems. Where photoelectric signal connection is required, photoelectric connector shall be used. As one of the basic components necessary for electrical connection of circuit system, it has been widely used in aviation, aerospace, military equipment, communication, computer, automobile, industry, household appliances and other fields, and has become one of the pillar industries of electronic information basic products.

Connectors have various functions and types, so they show diversified characteristics. According to the transmission medium, the connector can be divided into electrical connector, optical connector and fluid connector; According to the transmission frequency, the electrical connector is divided into low-frequency connector, high-frequency connector and filter connector; According to the shape, electrical connectors can be divided into circular connectors and rectangular connectors.

Classification of connectors

Source: public data sorting

2、 Analysis on the development status of global connector industry

With the development of downstream industries and the progress of connector industry itself, connectors have become a bridge for the stable flow of energy and information in equipment, and the overall market scale has basically maintained a stable growth trend. According to statistics, the global connector market reached US $66.7 billion in 2018, an increase of 11% over 2017, maintaining a double-digit growth rate for two consecutive years, and the annual compound growth rate has been about 5% since 2012.

Scale and growth of global connector market from 2011 to 2018

Source: public data sorting

Automobile is the largest terminal equipment application field of connector products, with an output value of US $15.76 billion in 2018, accounting for 23.6% of the global connector market; The communication industry ranks second, accounting for 22% of the total market. Followed by other application fields (21.6%), consumer electronics (13.5%), industry (12.3%) and rail transit (7.0%). Other applications mainly include military industry, medical treatment, instrumentation and other industries. Smart phones, computers and other products in the downstream applications of connectors iterate rapidly, and emerging industries such as new energy vehicles, Internet of things and UAVs are booming. On the whole, the development of the downstream market will promote the rapid growth of the connector industry.

Global connector application field distribution in 2018 (unit:%)

Source: public data sorting

In 2018, the connector Market in China was US $20.9 billion, accounting for 31.4% of the global market share, making it the largest connector Market in the world. In addition, the fastest growth in connector sales in 2018 was in Europe, with sales increased by $1.8 billion, a year-on-year increase of 14.7%.

Global connector market distribution in 2018 (unit:%)

Source: public data sorting

Related report: issued by Huajing Industrial Research Institute 《 Research Report on market prospect forecast and investment strategy of China's connector industry from 2019 to 2025 》

3、 Analysis on development status of connector industry in China

In recent years, with the continuous advancement of the information wave, China's information construction has developed rapidly, and its scale has leapt to the forefront of the world. It has also made great progress in quality and technology. Among them, emerging industries such as smart phones, communication equipment and UAVs have great influence. As the basic component to realize informatization, connectors benefit from the continuous expansion of investment in informatization construction. From 2011 to 2018, the size of China's connector market increased from US $11.3 billion to US $20.9 billion, with an annual compound growth rate of 8.56%, significantly higher than the global growth rate of 4.8% in the same period.

Size and growth of China's connector market from 2011 to 2018

Source: public data sorting

Military connectors are essential components of new high-performance weapons and equipment such as reconnaissance aircraft, missiles and intelligent bombs. They are mainly used in high-tech fields such as aviation, aerospace, weapons, ships and electronics. According to statistics, the market scale of China's military connectors in 2013 was only 5.726 billion yuan. It is expected that the market scale of domestic military connectors will reach 12.436 billion yuan by 2020. With the continuous improvement of military informatization and the acceleration of military modernization, the demand for a large number of new equipment will increase, and the market scale of military connectors is expected to continue to expand.

Scale and growth of China's military connector market from 2013 to 2020

Source: public data sorting

Due to the high requirements of users for charging time of new energy vehicles, long endurance and high-power charging have become the development direction, and high-voltage connectors will be applied in a wider range. Compared with the low-pressure connector of traditional fuel vehicles, the high-pressure connector has higher requirements for materials and performance, so its cost is higher. According to statistics, the scale of China's automobile connector Market in 2018 is 4.51 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 45.5%. It is estimated that the total market scale of connectors in the automobile field may exceed 7.79 billion yuan in 2020.

Size and growth of China's automotive connector market from 2014 to 2020

Source: public data sorting

According to the development guide for electric vehicle charging infrastructure (2015-2020), 500000 public decentralized charging piles will be added by 2020. Assuming that the ratio of public piles to private piles is still 2:3, there will be 750000 private piles at that time. According to statistics, in 2016, China's private charging pile connector was about 1200 yuan / set, and the public charging pile connector was about 3500 yuan / set. Assuming that the unit price decreased to 1000 yuan / set and 3000 yuan / set respectively, it is expected that China's charging pile connector market will reach 2.5 billion yuan in 2020.

Market scale and forecast of charging pile connector in China from 2016 to 2020

Source: public data sorting

4、 Analysis on the competition pattern of China's connector industry

China's connector industry started relatively late. The connectors produced are mainly medium and low-end, and the market share of high-end products is low. At present, there are more than 1000 connector manufacturers in China, including about 300 foreign-invested enterprises and more than 700 local manufacturing enterprises, which are concentrated in the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta. Domestic enterprises participating in connector competition mainly include four echelons:

Echelon division of China's connector Market

Source: public data sorting

From the perspective of the operating income of major domestic connector enterprises, the top five in the connector industry are Lixun precision, Changying precision, AVIC optoelectronics, Derun electronics and aerospace appliances. From the perspective of total revenue of top5, the market share of head company was 6.14% in 2010 and increased to 42.77% in 2018. Compared with the concentration of head enterprises in the international market of more than 50%, Chinese head connector enterprises still have large development space. Among them, Lixun precision occupies about 25% of the market share and is the only mainland enterprise to rank among the top ten connector manufacturers in the world. With the continuous improvement of the market share of domestic head enterprises, the stronger the stronger the Matthew effect will be more obvious. It is expected that the connector head company will continue to expand its market share in the future.

Major domestic connector suppliers (sorted by operating revenue in 2018)

Source: public data sorting

In 2018, the concentration of China's connector military products market was relatively high, and the extension mergers and acquisitions of leading enterprises continued. According to statistics, the total revenue of AVIC optoelectronics, aerospace electrical appliances, Shaanxi Huada, Sichuan Huafeng and aerospace electronics, the top five military connectors, has reached 10.5 billion yuan, of which the total revenue of connectors is about 7.3 billion yuan, accounting for about 73% of the overall military connector market.

Due to the need for domestic substitution of military products, the R & D investment of relevant enterprises has been increasing, and the market competitiveness of the company has been improved through mergers and acquisitions of relevant enterprises. For example, AVIC optoelectronics has successively acquired Xi'an Fujida, Shenzhen Xiangtong optoelectronics and other enterprises since 2013; Aerospace Electric has successively acquired Suzhou Huayou and Linquan motors. While leading enterprises continue to increase their R & D investment, active extension mergers and acquisitions also provide growth power for the company.

Major domestic military connector suppliers

Source: public data sorting

In 2018, the revenue of AVIC optoelectronics and aerospace electrical military connectors accounted for 67%. Compared with 2011, it increased by 23 percentage points. On the one hand, the increase in the market share of AVIC optoelectronics and aerospace appliances comes from the strong growth of the company itself. At the same time, the coordinated development of leading enterprises through acquisition has further improved the market share. A stable competition pattern has been formed in the field of military connectors.

Proportion of revenue of major military connector enterprises in 2018 (unit:%)

Source: public data sorting

5、 Analysis on development trend of connector industry in China

1. Using high-performance connectors in a wide range is the development trend of manufacturing industry in the future

As a bridge of communication in the circuit system, the connector is easy to maintain and upgrade. At the same time, it can simplify the assembly process of electronic products and improve the flexibility of design and production, so as to improve the automation degree of the whole system and reduce the cost. Therefore, the performance of the connector will affect the operation efficiency and reliability of the whole system. In the future, the diversity, performance and quality of connector products will become an important factor in the upgrading and development of the whole manufacturing industry.

2. There is a strong demand for connectors in more emerging fields

With the rapid development of 5g, Internet of things, AI and intelligent driving, the market puts forward new requirements for connector technology. In communication equipment, the connector carries the task of data connection between terminals. 5g development will promote the growth of the demand for wireless connectors. In automotive applications, with the continuous progress of automotive intelligence, in addition to the data connection of connectors required by the original engine management system and other equipment, the demand for connectors by more advanced on-board entertainment systems and intelligent driving systems is becoming stronger and stronger. In industry, connectors need stronger reliability and performance. With the construction of industrial Internet, more reliable connectors are needed between industrial equipment and network. Therefore, the development trend of connectors can be summarized in the following table.

3. From single signal transmission to multi signal transmission

Traditional connectors only transmit single signals, such as video, control or data signals. With the increasing lightness of electronic products, connectors change from single signal transmission to multiple signal transmission. The same cable can transmit optical, electrical or other signals at the same time, which is also conducive to saving space and improving system reliability.

4. Smaller, more convenient, more accurate, lower cost, more intelligent connector technology

Previous connectors were used for many contacts, which were filled in many expansion card slots, but in the 5g era, there may be dozens of connectors in an optical fiber device, which requires the use of smaller connectors to achieve higher performance connections.

With the advent of the AI era, the connector will not only realize simple transmission functions. In the future, in the switching power supply, in addition to ensuring the data of electrical signals, the connector may be able to make simple intelligent judgment and protection, output correct data and avoid damage to the power supply.