Terminal blocks manufacturers pursue advanced SMD type

The miniaturization trend in application products and the wide adoption in LED lighting attract a greater number of suppliers to the minority segment.

More China terminal blocks makers are turning out SMD kinds to ride the miniaturization trend in application products. From about 20 large companies three years ago, hundreds of suppliers, including midsize operations, now offer the type, albeit at a ratio of 5 to 20 percent of their overall yield for the line.

In terms of aggregate local volume, the connector type has about 20 percent share, which may surpass 25 percent in coming months. It is mainly used in aluminum- and copper-based PCBs adopted in LED lighting, which accounts for more than 50 percent of shipments. The rest of the requirement comes from the solar inverter, DC and AC converter, A/V equipment, communications, office automation, industrial control and HVAC sectors. Healthy demand from these markets is expected to keep sales growing 5 to 10 percent annually.

Cixi Kefa Electronics Co. Ltd began manufacturing SMD units mostly for diode-based illumination in 2014. Since then, it has raised the total by 10 percent and will continue doing so this year. The maker, which exports half of yield, also saw a boost in exports and looks to sustain 5 to 10 percent increase in outbound volume. Cixi Chaoyue Electronics Co. Ltd produces SMD variants for the same use, in addition to conventional DIP types. The former category accounts for 10 percent of its shipments.

SMD terminal block suppliers are counting on opportunities from the broadening adoption of the major application green lighting, which is spurring its production expansion worldwide. The global LED illumination segment alone will have an output value of $25.7 billion or 31 percent of the entire lighting sector. Europe, mainland China and the US are the key hubs, with respective shares of 23, 21 and 19 percent, according to LEDinside. In the mainland, the LED industry, which includes luminaires and displays, generated $44.5 billion in sales in 2014, surging 32 percent YoY, according to Consumption Daily.

More than 80 percent of SMD terminal blocks manufacturers in the mainland are homegrown operations. Their major overseas destinations are Western Europe, the US and the Asia- Pacific region, while Eastern Europe, the Middle East and South America are emerging markets.

The rest of the supplier pool consists of foreign-invested businesses mainly from Taiwan and Hong Kong.

All offer different types of connectors and cable assemblies.

Terminal blocks production is centered in the Yangtze River and Pearl River Delta regions, specifically in the provinces of Guangdong, Zhejiang and Jiangsu.

The main locations are the cities of Shenzhen and Dongguan in the first, Wenzhou in Zhejiang, and Suzhou in the last.

See a comparison table of terminal blocks suppliers on GlobalSources.com