Miniaturization strides keep PCB connectors line up-to-date

Most mainland China companies turning out PCB connectors can achieve 0.35mm pitch and aim to make it narrower. In terms of height, the goal is 0.6mm.

Wide adoption in mobile electronics, communications, medical, industrial and military hardware sustains R&D and production for the PCB connectors line in mainland China. Efforts to meet the shrinking space requirements in circuit boards have yielded manufacturing capability for 0.35mm pitch for the majority of makers. This is while work continues to realize a tighter pitch and a 0.6mm profile, especially for the robust smartphone market.

The few suppliers that have already reached the target include the Box Group. The company can turn out FPC and board-to-board types with a 0.6mm height, with the former in 0.2 and 0.3mm pitches and the second in 0.35mm.

Local manufacturers persist in improving durability as well and look to amp the number of mating cycles to 1,000 or double the typical level. They likewise highlight designs that will ensure firm connection for overall enhanced product reliability.

The global connectors industry has been on a steady growth path. By 2020, its total market scale will exceed $60 billion or at 1.3 percent CAGR from 2015, according to Bishop Associates. In the mainland, the rate will be many times over at 10.9 percent and will reach $25 billion at the end of the period.

The domestic PCB connectors manufacturing sector has been enjoying annual sales growth of 10 percent and this trend will continue into 2018, thanks to key demand drivers mobile electronics, and communications and medical equipment. This is why a number of makers press on with output expansion. Elete Technology Co. Ltd will maintain its 10 percent annual boost in 2018. It anticipates exports to rise by 5 to 10 percent.

The mainland is a major production center for the category, accounting for more than 30 percent of aggregate shipments worldwide. This hub status will be strengthened as overseas deliveries are expected to keep rising by 10 percent in the next one or two years. Local suppliers allocate between 30 and 90 percent of yield for export markets, primarily to North America and Asia and increasingly to the Middle East, South America and Russia.

There are over 500 companies in the PCB connectors line in the mainland. All are also engaged in the production of cable assemblies and other types of connectors.

Homegrown makers represent over 70 percent of the pool, but those from Japan, the US, Hong Kong and Taiwan continue to have the edge in terms of technology and production scale. The latter group includes industry leaders TE Connectivity and Molex. To compete for market attention, mainland suppliers highlight better price-performance ratio.

The major production bases are still in the provinces of Guangdong, Zhejiang and Jiangsu, specifically in the cities of Shenzhen, Dongguan, Yueqing, Suzhou and Ningbo. More than half of the makers are in Guangdong. These coastal areas, where many electronics suppliers gather, will continue to be the locations of choice of local and foreign entrants to the industry.