Connectors are essential basic components for electronic system equipment, and the automotive field has become one of the most widely used markets. As the basic accessory for electronic system equipment current and signal transmission and exchange, the connector is very important.The connector is an electronic device that plays the function of transmitting and exchanging current or optical signals between electronic system equipment. It can connect different systems into a whole through the transmission of current or optical signals, and keep no signals between the systems. Distortion, or energy loss, is a fundamental element necessary to make up the entire complete system.
According to the different media transmitted by the connector, the connector can be mainly divided into three categories: electrical connector, microwave radio frequency connector and optical connector.Various types of connectors have differences in functions and application fields, and these differences cause different types of connectors to have different design and manufacturing requirements.The differences in the requirements of different types of connectors have led to the fact that in addition to some multinational companies with a long history and large assets in the industry, other companies with smaller assets use key products with leading technology as the industry entry point. Different companies specialize in different segments.
Automotive is the second largest downstream application area for connectors.Connectors are widely used in downstream applications, including automotive, communications, consumer electronics, industry, rail transit, military and aerospace. The performance requirements and design difficulties of connectors in different application fields are different.From 2019 to 2021, communications and automobiles will be the top two areas for downstream applications of connectors, accounting for 23.5% and 21.9% respectively in 2021.
Compared with other types of connectors, automotive connectors have great potential for development. Under the blowout development of new energy vehicles, automotive connectors are expected to usher in large-scale volume. The connector was born during World War II. In order to shorten the refueling time of fighter jets and prolong the flight time, the connector came into being, which made a significant contribution to the improvement of the work efficiency of the ground maintenance system.After World War II, the economy gradually recovered, consumer products for people's livelihood gradually emerged, and connectors gradually expanded from the military field to the commercial field.The application in the early military industry mainly required customized connector products, with relatively high-end specifications and customized shipments for small batches, which required extremely high design capabilities of connector manufacturers.At present, with the continuous extension and expansion of downstream application fields, the types, specifications and structural forms of connector products are constantly enriched.Communication connectors have grown with the rise of communication equipment manufacturers such as Huawei and ZTE. They are highly dependent on the innovation of communication technologies such as 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G, and have certain characteristics of periodic products. Each iteration of communication technology is important for communication. The growth flexibility of the connector is very large.The downstream of consumer electronics connectors is mainly in the field of computers and mobile phones, and the industry tends to mature and the overall update and iteration speed is slow. In contrast, the development potential of current automotive connectors is huge compared to other types of connectors. Once the automotive connector is designated by the downstream OEM, the model of the connector is relatively fixed within a certain period.