1. Micro transmission systems have obvious advantages
Mechanical transmission, or simply transmission, primarily functions to transmit power and motion. Common transmission types include gear drives, worm gear drives, belt drives, and chain drives, with gear drives being the most widely used. Micro-transmission systems, as an emerging sub-sector, are mainly used for control, regulation, and motion transmission.
Compared to traditional transmission systems, micro transmission systems primarily utilize engineering plastics and metal powders as materials, and their manufacturing process mainly relies on mold forming. Micro and precision gear parts and micro transmission systems manufactured using mold forming offer advantages such as light weight, low energy consumption, and high production efficiency. This better meets the diverse needs of downstream industries for precise control, miniaturization, lightweighting, low cost, low noise, and large-scale production of micro transmission systems, thus enabling their rapid progress and development.
2. Downstream application demand in China's micro-drive system industry is becoming increasingly widespread.
With the continuous development of new-generation information technologies such as mobile communication technology, Internet of Things technology, and high-end electronic technology, micro-drive systems are being used more and more widely in emerging industries such as communication equipment, smartphones, smart homes, and service robots, as well as in traditional industries such as automotive electronics and medical devices.
1) Application Analysis of Communication Equipment Industry
Miniature drive systems are mainly used in the electrical control systems of 4G and 5G communication base stations in the telecommunications equipment industry. In recent years, my country's telecommunications sector has developed rapidly, achieving leaps and bounds from following in 2G to breakthroughs in 3G, and then to synchronization in 4G. With the accelerated implementation of the "Broadband China" strategy, large-scale construction of network infrastructure, especially 4G network infrastructure, has been launched in my country in recent years.
According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, from 2014 to 2019, the number of 4G base stations in my country rapidly increased from 850,000 to 5.19 million, and the proportion of 4G base stations in the total number of mobile phone base stations also increased from 24% to 64%.
Currently, my country's telecommunications industry is about to usher in the 5G era, taking a crucial step towards building a strong network nation. The "Three-Year Action Plan for Expanding and Upgrading Information Consumption (2018-2020)," released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in July 2018, outlines a plan to achieve fiber optic access and 4G network coverage in 98% of administrative villages by 2020, with eligible areas providing access service capabilities of 100Mbps or higher. It also explicitly states the need to ensure the commercial launch of 5G.
Globally, according to GSMA's latest report, "The Mobile Economy 2019," 5G networks are projected to cover one-third of the world's population by 2024, and by 2025, 4G and 5G will account for 74% of global mobile connections, with approximately half of the world's countries having launched 5G networks. The continued development of 4G and 5G communications will inevitably drive large-scale investment in communication equipment, including base stations.
In conclusion, the ongoing construction of 4G networks in my country and globally, along with the commercialization of 5G networks, will provide a broader market space for the application of micro-drive systems in the communication equipment industry.
2) Analysis of Smartphone Industry Applications
Miniature transmission systems are primarily used in smartphones for pop-up camera modules. In 2018, vivo's NEX series of full-screen phones adopted a pop-up camera, achieving a screen-to-body ratio of 91.24%; OPPO's Find X series also used a pop-up camera, achieving a screen-to-body ratio of 93.8%. Subsequently, many other phones, including the OPPO K3, Xiaomi Redmi K20, realme X, and Huawei Honor 9X, adopted pop-up cameras, making full-screen smartphones with pop-up camera modules a key focus of research and development for various mobile phone manufacturers.
The development of electronic information technology has made mobile phones increasingly powerful, transforming them from mere communication tools into intelligent devices integrating gaming, social networking, photography, and office functions. In recent years, Chinese smartphone brands have risen rapidly. According to IDC data, despite a slight decline in the global smartphone market, domestic brands such as Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo have seen year-on-year growth in smartphone shipments and an expanding market share.
The continued growth in global smartphone shipments, along with the trends towards full-screen displays and high-end products, and especially the rapid growth of Chinese smartphone brands, will provide significant opportunities for the widespread application of micro-drive systems in smartphones and the development of Chinese companies in the industry.
3) Application Analysis in the Automotive Electronics Industry
Miniature drive systems are widely used in automotive electronics, such as electric seat adjustment systems, electric sunroofs, electric rocking windows, electric tailgates, automatic door locks, electronic parking brake systems (EPB), electronic power steering systems (EPS), engine cooling systems, turbocharger control systems, and many other aspects.
With the innovative development of the automotive industry, especially the rapid advancement of new energy and autonomous driving technologies, automotive electronics have been widely applied and have become an important component of the entire vehicle. Their performance directly affects the vehicle's power, economy, reliability, safety, and comfort. Engine electronic control technologies such as ESA and EFI, chassis electronic control technologies such as ABS, EPS, and ASR, as well as body electronic technologies such as instruments, door locks, sunroofs, seats, and safety systems are being used more and more extensively, leading to a stronger demand for micro-transmission systems.
In the future, the development trends of energy conservation, intelligence, electrification, and lightweighting in automobiles will make the application of electronic devices in automobiles more widespread, and will also provide a broader market space for micro-transmission systems.
In the service robot industry, micro-transmission systems are mainly used in scenarios such as household cleaning robots, entertainment robots, and educational robots. As the control and motion unit component of robots, they are one of the core key components of robots.
In recent years, the global service robot market has seen rapid growth in demand, technological innovation, and industrial applications. According to data from the "China Robot Industry Development Report (2019)" released by the China Electronics Society, global service robot sales grew from US$3.51 billion in 2014 to US$8.29 billion in 2018, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23.97%. Sales are projected to reach US$13.14 billion by 2021, with a CAGR of 17.86% from 2019 to 2021.
The service robot and key component industry is expected to achieve sustained and rapid development driven by both strong market demand and national policy support, which will provide important opportunities for the widespread application of micro-drive systems in the field of service robots.
