Connector market will maintain a slight growth of 4.2% this year

In 2012, the global connector market’s overall sales were approximately USD 47.1 billion. It is expected that the market will maintain a micro growth rate of 4.2% in 2013, with sales of approximately USD 41.9 billion. In terms of market supply, most of the connector suppliers reflect that the current price of connector products is still at a relatively stable level, but some distributors and original equipment manufacturers are more conservative in their purchasing power, reducing the number of orders and increasing The ordering frequency makes the delivery time, which is usually 6 weeks, begin to shorten.

For the growth of the market in 2013, Luo Baihui, chief analyst of Jinmo Industrial Control Network, is optimistic about the market of IoT devices. Ultra-mobile devices including smart phones, tablet PCs, personal navigators, etc. have become connectors. The main market for the product. In particular, in the low-cost smartphone segment, which sells for about US$150, China’s handset manufacturers’ shipments will further increase significantly, and will require more functionality to be placed in increasingly compact devices while achieving Faster time to market. On the other hand, as the demand for plug-in electric vehicles worldwide has been steadily increasing in recent years, people are attaching more and more importance to the built-in connectivity of such devices in harsh environments. The EV/HEV connector solution came into being. In addition, the growth potential of the new energy market can not be underestimated, although at present the development of renewable energy based on solar energy, wind energy is still limited, but in the next few years, with the increase of government policy incentives around the world, this A market will usher in a booming phase, and more connector manufacturers will begin to look for new business opportunities in this dynamic and challenging market.

From the perspective of application requirements, reducing the package size of devices as much as possible is a mainstream trend in the electronics manufacturing industry. In particular, portable networking electronic devices present the characteristics of thinness and multi-functionality, forcing connector products to face R&D. The severe test, the market demand focuses on how to achieve effective connection and external interconnection in a limited space. In some specific applications, traditional I/O input and output connectors have become the focus of market competition. one. For example, the Lightning (Lightning) connector announced by Apple, and the I/O interface connector for greater signal density and higher transmission bandwidth developed for some high-end data centers and server farms have become the current connector industry in the product. Development of the latest wind vane.

High reliability and durability are important for the slimming development of portable electronic devices, and more and more products need to complete the circuit design in a highly compact internal structure, as well as the corresponding circuit and interface connection design. Under this trend, all types of connector products are currently moving toward refinement. On the one hand, the connector itself has more and more digits, but the center spacing is smaller; on the other hand, the connector's height difference It is also getting smaller and smaller, and it occupies less and less space. In the development of such high-density connectors, in the face of ever-smaller, thinner devices, and even harsher application environments, how to ensure the mechanical durability and stable contact resistance of connector products is what manufacturers need to solve. A key topic.

According to Weng Weixiong, regional marketing manager at Molex, taking the wire-to-board interconnection as an example, one of the major challenges is that the connector pins are vulnerable to damage under high insertion force. Therefore, dense components require dense devices. High reliability and durability are maintained while the connectors are mated. To address this issue, the Micro-Lock single-row connector from Molex offers industry-low insertion force for 2.00mm pitch connectors, with protection against pin damage, using its Guardwall and card slots (Detent). Features: Guide the plastic shell into the connector, touch the pins when the shell is aligned, and realize the safety to avoid damage and mating, to avoid bending or damage of the connector pins when they are inserted at an angle, which can be widely used in LCDs and Wire-to-board connection applications for PDP flat panel displays.

In the mobile phone application of the detachable backplane, TE's latest ultra-thin, plug-in MicroSIM card connector is only 1.24 mm high, making it ideal for compact fashion consumer electronics, with two mounting positions (6-bit or 8-bit) provides greater flexibility in the dimensioning of the terminal equipment. In order to improve the connection reliability, this product is equipped with a unique SIM card detection switch contact, can better protect the circuit connection, without occupying additional PCB space; enhanced MicroSIM anti-misplugging function to prevent incorrect insertion of cards, to avoid The connector contacts are damaged due to improper insertion of the SIM card. In addition, TE's newly developed ultra-thin battery connector is only 1.9 mm thick, which is suitable for all types of mobile devices, while also taking into account the optimization of reliability and durability. The durability test shows that the connector can withstand 5,000 times. Plug test without any damage to the contacts.

In the harsh application environment of the automotive industry, the biggest problem for designers is undoubtedly the vehicle vibration that can easily damage the interconnected system. For this special application, Molex's DuraClik 2.00mm (0.079") pitch wire-to-board connector system provides secure mating and PCB retention without worrying about connector stability even in high vibration applications. Sex.