1. Electronic CeramicsIndustry Development Overview
Electronic ceramics refer to ceramic materials used in the electronics industry to prepare various electronic components and devices. They use artificially refined inorganic powder as raw materials. Through structural design, precise chemical measurement, and appropriate Inorganic non-metallic materials that use molding methods and firing systems to achieve specific properties and are processed to meet the dimensional accuracy requirements. Electronic ceramics are widely used in the electronics industry to prepare various electronic components and are indispensable basic materials for the manufacturing of electronic components.
The upstream of the electronic ceramics industry includes electronic ceramic basic powders, formula powders, metal materials, chemical materials, etc.; the midstream is electronic ceramic materials, which mainly include: ceramic shells, ceramic bases, and ceramic substrates , chip multilayer ceramic capacitor ceramics, microwave dielectric ceramics, etc. The downstream of electronic ceramics is mainly electronic components, which are ultimately used in end products. Its application fields are very broad, including optical communications, wireless communications, industrial lasers, consumer electronics, automotive electronics, etc. It is mainly used for oscillation in various electronic machines. , coupling, filtering and other circuits.
Compared with traditional materials, ceramic materials have excellent properties such as high temperature resistance, wear resistance, corrosion resistance, and light weight. The application fields of electronic ceramic materials are as follows:
Overview of the electronic ceramic materials industry industry chain
my country is a country with a large demand for electronic ceramics, with strong support from policies such as the "Special Action to Strengthen the Industrial Base"Under the current situation, many domestic manufacturers are increasing investment and production in the field of electronic ceramics. In the future, China is expected to gain a greater say in the field of electronic ceramics.
2. Development status of electronic ceramic segment products< /span>
Electronic ceramic products are an inseparable and important part of high-end semiconductor devices. They are an important bridge connecting chips and external system circuits. They directly affect the performance, quality and reliability of the device and can be widely used. Used in communications, high-power lasers, automotive electronics, consumer electronics and other fields.
(1) Electronic ceramic shell for communication devices
a. Optical communication device housing
In recent years, the country has vigorously called for and advocated the "Broadband China" strategy and the "Internet + Action Plan", which has promoted the rapid development of the Internet industry and cloud computing, and prompted the demand for data centers across the country to continue to rise. . Data centers use 100G optical modules as the mainstream, and communications within data centers, between data centers, and between different customer data centers all create demand for optical communication devices. The 5G era is coming. In the field of optical communications, explosive data transmission and storage have driven a substantial increase in bandwidth usage. Optical communication devices are taking 100G as the mainstream and continue to develop towards 400G.
With the acceleration of infrastructure construction in my country's optical communications industry, the optical communications device industry has gradually moved to China, and my country has become an important global production base. Major foreign optical communication device companies have transferred their main production and R&D bases to China. At present, many internationally renowned industry giants have set up R&D, procurement centers or factories and other branches in China. Domestic optical communication device manufacturers have developed rapidly driven by demand and have invested in the production of 100G optical communication devices/optical modules. Therefore, with the growth of the market size of optical communication devices and modules, and the accelerated layout of domestic and foreign optical communication device companies in the field of mid-to-high-end optical communication devices, the demand for optical communication device housings, one of the key components, has also increased.
b. Infrared detector housing
The electronic ceramic shell has the advantages of good air tightness and can provide good physical support, electrical path, and thermal path. From the perspective of product manufacturing, compared with metal casings, electronic ceramic casings are used in infrared detectors, which can significantly reduce the size and weight of the detector and reduce manufacturing costs.
As infrared detectors continue to expand in new application fields such as power, construction, law enforcement, fire protection, and vehicles, their consumption in the civilian market will grow rapidly. As a supporting component of the infrared body temperature measuring instrument, the infrared detector housing plays an active role in the prevention and control of the new coronavirus pneumonia epidemic in my country; the surge in demand for infrared body temperature measuring instruments will also rapidly promote the emergence of the infrared detector housing application market Rapid growth.
c. Wireless power device housing
Wireless power devices include silicon bipolar transistors, LDMOS power transistors and third-generation semiconductor GaN power transistors, which are core devices for mobile communication base stations and mobile terminals. With 4G/ With the development of 5G systems, the number of base stations will also increase dramatically. LDMOS power tubes and third-generation semiconductor GaN power tubes will become the most competitive advanced devices for base stations. In addition, with the frequent launch of Beidou satellites, handheld, vehicle-mounted, airborne, ship-mounted, embedded and other Beidou navigation system terminal applications are becoming more and more popular. For each terminal to communicate with space satellites, the wireless power device in its transmission channel is crucial.
After years of hard work, our country has made great achievements in the field of wireless power device technology. However, due to cost, batch production capacity, consistency and other reasons, wireless power devices still mainly rely on imports in terms of popularization and application of communication base stations and Beidou terminals. Domestic communication equipment manufacturers purchase imported devices in large quantities. Wireless power device casing is a key component of wireless power devices. The explosion of domestic wireless power devices will definitely drive the demand for their supporting casings.
(2) Electronic ceramic housing for industrial lasers
Laser has become one of the basic technologies of modern high-end industrial manufacturing and plays a decisive role. Laser-related products and services have spread all over the world, forming a huge laser industry. Industrial lasers are an important part of the laser industry.
According to different gain media, lasers can be mainly divided into liquid lasers, gas lasers, semiconductor lasers, fiber lasers and solid lasers. Fiber lasers are a new generation of solid lasers that feature high photoelectric conversion efficiency, simple structure, and good beam quality.
At present, the key technology of high-power fiber lasers is still in the hands of foreign companies, mainly German IPG and British SPI. However, a large number of excellent laser companies have emerged in China, such as Wuhan Raycus Fiber Laser Technology Co., Ltd., Shenzhen Chuangxin Laser Co., Ltd., Beijing Keplin Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd., etc. These companies have certain independent research and development capabilities, are growing rapidly, and are gradually occupying a place in some fiber laser markets.
(3) Consumer electronics ceramic casing and substrate field
a acoustic meter crystal oscillator housing
Surface acoustic crystal oscillator housings are used in two types of frequency components: surface acoustic filters and crystal oscillators. The following classification descriptions:
The first category: surface acoustic filter. The surface acoustic filter is a special filtering device made of piezoelectric materials such as quartz crystal and piezoelectric ceramics, taking advantage of its piezoelectric effect and the physical properties of surface acoustic wave propagation. Surface acoustic filters are widely used in various wireless communication systems, televisions, video recorders and global satellite positioning system receivers to replace LC resonant circuits for direct coupling and filtering. The upstream industry of surface acoustic filter products is the piezoelectric material, ceramic and PCB packaging and casing industries, and the downstream industry is the production of electronic components and modules. Its terminal application industries include consumer electronics such as smartphones, 5G communications, Internet of Things, and home appliances. product.
b.3D light sensor module housing
3D light sensor module is used in the new generation of smartphone 3D cameras. The characteristic of the 3D camera is that in addition to obtaining plane images, it can also obtain the depth information of the shooting object, that is, the three-dimensional position and size information. It usually consists of multiple cameras + depth sensors. 3DThe camera can realize real-time three-dimensional information collection, adding object sensing functions to consumer electronic terminals, thereby introducing multiple application scenarios such as human-computer interaction, face recognition, three-dimensional modeling, augmented reality (AR), security and assisted driving.
c.5G communication terminal module shell
With the development of society and the advancement of technology, there will be a higher demand for more efficient communication methods in the future. The future communication is not only the communication and interconnection between people, but also the communication between people. The interconnection between things and things means entering the era of interconnection of all things. 5G mobile communication technology can well meet these needs with its advantages such as huge capacity, extremely low latency and multiple access points.
d. Aluminum nitride ceramic substrate field
Most of the heat energy accumulated by high-power LEDs is dissipated in the form of heat conduction, so its heat dissipation requirements are quite stringent. At present, single-chip 1W high-power LED has been industrialized3W, 5W, and even 10W single-chip high-power LEDs have also been launched and some have entered the market. This has enabled the application of ultra-high brightness LEDs to continue to expand, first entering the special lighting market and moving towards the general lighting market. As the input power of LED chips continues to increase, higher requirements have been placed on the packaging technology of these power LEDs. While traditional PCB boards cannot carry high-power heat energy, aluminum nitride ceramics have good thermal conductivity and insulation properties, which can improve LED power levels and luminous efficiency. Power LEDs have been widely used in large outdoor signage, small display backlights, vehicle lighting, indoor and special lighting, and the market continues to be promising.
3. Development Trend of Electronic Ceramics Industry
(1) The application fields of electronic ceramic casings continue to expand
In recent years, technological changes and updated applications have been rapid, high-end manufacturing products have continued to emerge, and emerging fields such as smart cars, the Internet of Things, drones, and data centers have developed rapidly. As a key material for semiconductor devices, electronic ceramic casings are widely used in communications, industrial lasers, consumer electronics, automotive electronics and other fields, and can meet the needs of smart cars, the Internet of Things, and the UAV market.The development of emerging fields such as virtual reality (VR). Driven by new and continued growth in downstream demand, the application fields of electronic ceramic housing products continue to expand.
(2) Electronic ceramic shells will develop towards high precision and miniaturization
Due to the continuous advancement of technology, electronic products are moving towards multi-function, high-end and high added value, and the requirements for the accuracy and reliability of electronic components are getting higher and higher. Electronic ceramic shells can achieve high airtightness and high reliability in a tiny space, thus contributing to the miniaturization of product terminals. With the rapid development of miniaturization, lightweight and thinness of end products, the requirements for electronic ceramic casings are getting higher and higher, which will also lead the electronic ceramic casing industry to develop in the direction of high precision, high reliability and miniaturization.
(3) DomesticThere is a lot of room for product import substitution
Due to high technical and process barriers and the late start of my country's electronic ceramic industry, most electronic ceramic housing products produced by domestic manufacturers lag behind well-known foreign manufacturers in terms of technology, process and added value. More,
Therefore, the high-end market of the global electronic ceramics industry is mainly occupied by companies from developed countries such as the United States and Japan, and my country mainly provides mid- to low-end electronic ceramic products. Against the background of strong support from industrial policies, my country's electronic ceramic industry has developed rapidly. The technical level of some electronic ceramic housing products has reached or is close to the international advanced level. In the future, the market share of domestic manufacturers will further expand.
4. Trends and reasons for changes in industry profit levels
The profit level of the electronic ceramics industry is directly related to the overall development of the industry, technical level, and upstream and downstream demand changes. In recent years, benefiting from the popularization and development of application fields such as communications, computers, electronic instruments, laser technology and digital circuit technology, the market demand for electronic ceramic components has been growing day by day, and the overall profits of the electronic ceramic industry have maintained rapid growth. With the support and promotion of relevant national departments, the research and development and industrialization of electronic ceramics in my country have achieved rapid development. The technical content and added value of domestic domestic enterprises' products have continued to improve, and the performance and craftsmanship of individual categories have reached or exceeded foreign varieties. They have begun to gradually gain share in the mid-to-high-end market, and their profit levels and profitability have improved. However, the technology of high-end electronic ceramic casing products is still mainly in the hands of companies in developed countries such as Japan and the United States. Their bargaining power and competitiveness are strong, and their market share and total profits are large.
In addition, the industry's profit margin level is affected by the innovation capabilities of enterprises. Electronic ceramics are affected by the upgrading of downstream products and update quickly. New products generally achieve higher profit margins. Later, as the products mature, competition gradually intensifies and profit margins decline. Generally speaking, the profit level change trend of the electronic ceramic products industry is mainly affected by factors such as changes in downstream market demand, intensity of market competition, product technology level, process level, and upstream raw material costs. In the long term, companies that continue to invest in R&D, improve process processes, promote product iteration, and maintain cost leadership will achieve profit margins and profit levels higher than the industry average.
