Connectors were first born in the manufacturing technology of fighter jets in the Second World War. With the rapid growth of the world economy after World War II and the continuous advancement of science and technology, electronic products such as televisions, telephones, and computers related to people’s livelihood consumption continue to emerge. The military field is rapidly expanding to the commercial field, and the corresponding research and development have been rapidly developed. With the development of the times and advances in technology, connectors have been widely used in data communications, computers and peripherals, consumer electronics, household appliances, automobiles, industry, rail transit, aerospace/military and other fields. With the gradual expansion of the application field, the connector has gradually developed into a product with a complete range of products, rich varieties and specifications, diverse structure types, subdivision of professional directions, obvious industry characteristics, standard system specifications, serialization and specialization.

        1. Analysis of connector market size and pattern changes

        (1) Global connector market scale

        The connector is an indispensable basic electronic component in many devices, and a bridge for communication in electronic circuits. Through the fast, stable, low-loss, high-fidelity transmission of electrical signals, it can ensure the normal performance of the complete functions of the device. In recent years, benefiting from the continuous development of downstream industries such as downstream data communications, computers and peripherals, consumer electronics, and automobiles, the global connector market demand has continued to grow, and the market scale has shown an overall expansion trend. According to statistics, the global connector market demand in 2009 was 34.39 billion U.S. dollars1. By 2015, the global connector market demand reached 52.05 billion U.S. dollars. It is expected that the market size will further increase to 58.793 billion U.S. dollars in 2016.

 

Refer to the "2018-2023 China Connector Industry Market Competition Status Survey and Investment Value Prospect Evaluation Report" released by Guanyan Tianxia

         (2) Regional distribution of global connector market

         From the perspective of regional distribution, the global connector market is mainly distributed in five regions: North America, Europe, Japan, China, and Asia Pacific (excluding Japan and China). These five regions account for more than 90% of the global connector market3. In recent years, due to the impact of global economic fluctuations, the connector markets in North America, Europe, and Japan have grown slowly, and even experienced a downward trend. The emerging markets represented by China and the Asia-Pacific region have shown strong growth, which has become a driving force for the growth of the global connector market. The main motivation.

Figure: 2011-2015 global major countries/regions connector market size (unit: million US dollars)

Note ①: "Asia Pacific" region data does not include China and Japan

         (3) The rapid development of my country's connector market

         As the world's manufacturing industry shifts to mainland China, the focus of global connector production has also shifted to mainland China. China has become the world's largest connector production base. The overall level of China's connector manufacturing has been rapidly improved, and the connector market has expanded year by year. China has become the most promising and fastest growing region in the global connector market. From 2003 to 2015, the growth rate of China's connector market was significantly higher than the global average. China's connector market share expanded from 12.50% to 28.28%. In recent years, it has become the world's largest connector consumer market.

Note ①: "Asia Pacific" region data does not include China and Japan

         Over the past ten years, China’s economy has continued to grow rapidly. In 2003, its GDP was only 13.58 trillion yuan5, but it soared to 67.67 trillion yuan in 2015, with a compound growth rate of 14.32%. Driven by the rapid development of China's economy, the downstream connector industries such as communications, computers, and consumer electronics have developed rapidly in China, which has enabled the Chinese connector market to maintain rapid growth and the connector market is expanding. In 2003, China's connector market was only about 3.603 billion U.S. dollars, and by 2015 it soared to 14.719 billion U.S. dollars, becoming the world's largest connector market.

Due to the late start of my country's connector industry and the low concentration of the connector market, there is still a certain gap between the technical level of the industry and the technical level of advanced countries. However, my country's connector industry has a vast space and great development potential, and there is a lot of room for improvement in the future.

        2. Prospect analysis of global connector market demand

        As one of the basic components necessary for the electrical connection of the circuit system, the connector is a component of the terminal application product. Therefore, the development of the terminal application is the main factor that promotes the rapid growth and technological development of the connector market. The development trend of the connector industry and downstream terminals The application industry has maintained a very obvious consistency.

        (1) The rapid development of the data communication industry has promoted the continuous growth of the communication connector industry

        Data communication service is the third largest communication service after telegraph and telephone service. It is the product of the combination of computer and communication. It realizes the transmission between computers and computers, and between computers and terminals. According to different transmission media, data communication is divided into "wired data communication" and "wireless data communication". Communication terminal equipment mainly includes switches, routers, modems, and user access terminal equipment. As one of the indispensable and important parts of communication equipment, connectors account for about 3 to 5% of the value of communication equipment, and more than 10% of the value of some large communication equipment.

        From a global perspective, the communications equipment manufacturing industry is still in a period of rapid development after nearly two decades, and the communications equipment market continues to expand. In 2011, global communications equipment expenditure was 137.4 billion U.S. dollars and will grow to 149.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2014.

 
        With the continuous growth of my country's fixed investment in telecommunications, my country's communications technology and communications equipment manufacturing industry has achieved leapfrog development. According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the sales output value of my country's communication equipment manufacturing industry in 2011 was 1,165.3 billion yuan, and it increased to 2,243.9 billion yuan in 2015, with a compound growth rate of 17.80%.

With the rapid development of the global and my country's communication equipment manufacturing industry, it will promote the continuous development of the data and communication connector market, and the future development space is huge.

        (2) The steady development of the consumer electronics market drives the sustainable development of the consumer electronics connector industry

        With the development of the times and technology, the integration of consumer electronics and IT products has accelerated. Consumer electronics are involved in more and more fields and industries. Tablet computers, digital TVs, digital cameras, camcorders, handheld game consoles, etc. have become emerging consumer categories electronic product.

        Many different types of connectors are needed in consumer electronics products. A smartphone with camera, music, video and other functions usually requires 8 to 12 connectors, including IC socket, RF radio frequency, USB, headphone jack, Battery Conn, I/O, SIM card and Camera Socket, etc. Some mobile phones only use 3 RF connectors. A digital camera needs to use USB, Battery Conn, HDMI, I/O, flash, Pogo PIN and other connectors, and a game machine needs to use IC sockets, USB, Battery Conn, HDMI, RF radio frequency, headphones Multiple connectors such as jacks. On average, each laptop uses about 35 to 45 connectors, which is equivalent to an output value of $10.

        Driven by the pan-digital wave and the prevalence of consumerism, emerging consumer electronics products such as digital TVs, digital cameras, camcorders, MP3/MP4, and handheld game consoles have developed rapidly worldwide, and the scale of global consumer electronics has continued to increase. According to data, the global consumer electronics market in 2014 was 778 billion euros. In 2015, the global market growth rate is expected to be 1.5%, and the market size will reach 790 billion euros.

        In recent years, with the rapid development of my country's national economy, the level of residents' disposable income has continued to increase, which has effectively enhanced the consumption power of Chinese residents and has become the source of industry growth. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics of China, the per capita disposable income of urban residents in China increased from 6,280 yuan in 2000 to 31,195 yuan in 20159, a compound annual growth rate of 11.28%; the net income of rural residents in the same period increased from 2,253 yuan in 2000 Increased to 10,772 yuan in 2015, with a compound annual growth rate of 10.99%. The increase in residents' income has stimulated the increase in consumer spending on consumer electronic products such as smart phones, tablet computers, and personal computers (including laptops and desktop computers), and has become an important driving force for the continuous increase in my country's consumer electronics demand. In terms of mobile phones, according to statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China's mobile phone shipments were 452 million units in 2014, and China's mobile phone shipments were 518 million units in 2015, a year-on-year increase of 14.6%. In 2016, China's mobile phone shipments were approximately 560 million units, an increase of 8.1% compared to 2015. In terms of computers, it is expected that as the commercial PC market enters the peak replacement period and diversified product applications such as two-in-one extreme thinness and lightness, the sales volume of commercial PCs will reach 55.58 million units in 2020, with a compound growth rate of 2016-2020. Reached 2.9%. At the same time, the technological upgrading of consumer electronics has also promoted the technological development of the connector industry. In recent years, emerging consumer electronic products of mobile phones and tablet computers have developed in the direction of portability, thinness, high performance, and intelligence. Consumer electronic products have more and more functions and smaller product sizes, and many products have a thickness less than 20mm , The thickness of some products is less than 10mm. In order to meet the dual requirements of product performance and ultra-thin thickness, consumer electronic connectors will develop in the direction of diversification, miniaturization, multi-function, good electromagnetic compatibility, standardization and customization in the future.

        (3) The steady development of the automotive industry also drives the continuous development of automotive connectors

        The automotive field is the largest market for connectors, accounting for 22.2% of the global connector industry. The automotive industry has a huge demand for connectors. Generally, there are nearly a hundred types of electronic connectors used in automobiles. Connectors used by a single vehicle model Reach 600 to 1,000.

        The application of connectors in automobiles is mainly concentrated in engine management systems, safety systems, entertainment systems, etc. As consumers' demand for in-car entertainment systems continues to increase, in-car entertainment system connectors have become an important development direction for automotive connectors. The global automobile market has maintained relatively stable growth in recent years. In 2007, the global automobile production was 73.27 million, and by 2015, the global automobile production reached 90.68 million. China's auto market is thriving and has maintained a high growth rate in recent years. In 2007, China's auto production was 8.88 million units; by 2015, China's auto production had increased to 24.5 million units, 2.8 times that of 2007. The continuous increase in global automobile production will promote the rapid development of the automotive connector industry.

In recent years, as people’s requirements for safety, environmental protection, comfort, and intelligence have become higher and higher, the application of automotive electronic products has increased, including car audio systems, airbags, car navigation systems, ABS systems, Automobile transmission control systems and in-vehicle optical cable networks have gradually become popular. At the same time, various functional parts and components on automobiles are constantly developing in the direction of electronics, intelligence, refinement and reliability, and higher requirements are put forward for the structural design, appearance design and materials of automobile connectors.

        (4) Advances in terminal application technology have promoted the continuous development of connector industry technology

        The technical characteristics of connector products are greatly affected by the technological development of downstream industries. Every technological advancement and change will bring huge changes and even revolutionary influences to the entire industry, thereby promoting the continuous development of the connector industry. In recent years, with the vigorous development of electronic products such as computers (including notebooks and tablets) and mobile phones, as well as the gradual integration of communications and consumer electronics, it has led the development of connectors in the direction of high-speed, miniaturization and high-density. High-speed connectors such as fiber optic connectors, SFP photoelectric connectors, HDMI, etc. have been widely used in various electronic devices and have become the main direction of future development.

        Based on the substantial increase in data transmission speed in the terminal application field, the connector, as a bridge for data transmission, is developing towards high frequency, miniaturization, miniaturization, high-speed transmission, large-capacity transmission, and multi-signal mixed transmission. Take USB and HDMI connection products as an example, upgrade from USB1.0 to USB2.0, and then to USB3.0 and USB3.1, and its transmission speed has been improved by hundreds of times. Similarly, HDMI2.0 is compared with HDMI1.0. Its transmission speed has also been greatly improved, and functions such as audio return and dynamic synchronization have been added while transmitting multiple audio and video signals.

 
        In order to meet the needs of market development and increase their market share, various connector manufacturers around the world have successively launched their new high-speed signal connector products. The future application fields of high-speed connectors will further expand to emerging industries.