Affected by the global economic environment, the sales volume of the global connector market in the first half of 2012 decreased by 3-4% year-on-year compared with the previous year. However, in general, because the current economic recession was relatively milder than the previous two, Therefore, the market has improved from the fourth quarter of 2012. The total sales of the global connector market in 2012 were approximately US$47.1 billion. It is expected that the market will maintain a slight growth of 4.2% in 2013, with sales of approximately US$49.1 billion. . In terms of market supply, most connector suppliers report that the current price of connector products is still at a relatively stable level, but some distributors and original equipment manufacturers have become more conservative in their procurement efforts, reducing the number of orders and increasing The order frequency has shortened the delivery time, which is usually 6 weeks.
For the growth of the market in 2013, Luo Baihui is optimistic about the IoT device market. Ultra-mobile devices including smart phones, tablets, personal navigators, etc. have become the main market for connector products. Especially in the low-cost smartphone segment with a price of approximately US$150, Chinese mobile phone manufacturers will further significantly increase their shipments, and require more functionality to be put into increasingly compact devices while achieving more Fast time to market. On the other hand, as the global demand for plug-in electric vehicles has maintained steady growth in recent years, people are paying more and more attention to the built-in connectivity of devices in such harsh environments. All kinds of pure electric/hybrid The power vehicle (EV/HEV) connector solution came into being. In addition, the growth potential of the new energy market should also not be underestimated. Although the current development of renewable energy, mainly solar and wind energy, is still limited, in the next few years, with the increase of government policy incentives around the world, this A market will usher in a stage of vigorous development, and more connector manufacturers will begin to look for new business opportunities in this vibrant and challenging market.
From the perspective of application requirements, it is the mainstream trend of the electronics manufacturing industry to reduce the package volume of the device as much as possible, especially the lightweight and multi-functional characteristics of portable networked electronic devices, forcing connector products to face the research and development Severe test, the focus of market demand is on how to achieve effective connection and interconnection with the outside 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 connector announced by Apple and the I/O interface connector with greater signal density and higher transmission bandwidth developed for some high-end data centers and server farms have become products in the current connector industry. Develop the latest weather vane.
High reliability and durability are essential
The slimming development of portable electronic devices makes more and more products need to complete the circuit design in the highly compact internal structure, as well as the corresponding circuit and interface connection design. Under this trend, all kinds of connector products are moving in the direction of refinement. On the one hand, the number of bits in the connector itself is increasing, but the center distance is smaller; on the other hand, the height of the connector It is getting smaller and smaller, and it takes up less and less space. When developing this type of high-density connector, facing smaller, thinner devices and harsher application environments, how to ensure the mechanical durability and stable contact resistance of the connector products is what manufacturers need to solve A key subject.
Weng Weixiong, regional marketing manager of Molex, said that taking wire-to-board interconnection as an example, one of the current main challenges is: under the condition of high insertion force, the connector pins are easily damaged. Therefore, compact component-intensive equipment requires It can still maintain high reliability and high durability when the connector is mated. In response to this problem, the Micro-Lock single row connector introduced by Molex can provide the industry's lower insertion force for 2.00mm pitch connectors and has a protection function to prevent pin damage. It uses its Guardwall and Detent ) Features, guide the rubber shell into the connector, and touch the pins when the shell is aligned, to achieve safe and damage-free mating, avoiding the bending or damage of the connector pins when mating at an angle. It can be widely used in game consoles, In the wire-to-board connection of LCD and PDP flat panel displays.
In the application of mobile phones with detachable backplanes, TE's latest ultra-thin pluggable MicroSIM card connector is only 1.24 mm in height, making it an ideal choice for compact and fashionable consumer electronics products, with two installation positions (6 bits or 8 bits), which can provide more flexibility for the size design of terminal equipment. In order to improve connection reliability, this product is equipped with unique SIM card detection switch contacts, which can better protect the circuit connection without occupying additional PCB space; the enhanced MicroSIM anti-error insertion function can prevent incorrect insertion of the card and avoid The connector contacts were damaged due to improper insertion of the SIM card. In addition, TE's newly developed ultra-thin battery connector has a thickness of only 1.9 mm, which can be applied to various 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-in 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 interconnection system. For such special applications, the DuraClik 2.00mm (0.079") pitch wire-to-board connector system introduced by Molex can provide safe mating and PCB retention, even in high-vibration applications without worrying about the stability and reliability of the connector Sex.