Yinte Industry Express: Behind the shortage and price increase of crystal oscillators, the process of domestic substitution is accelerating

Yinte Electronics Industry Express

Crystal oscillator products with high temperature compensation, thermal sensitivity, and technological content may enter a new round of price increase cycle. It has only been over three months since the last news of crystal oscillator price increase appeared. At that time, due to the impact of upstream raw material price increases, some crystal oscillator products increased in price by 10% -20%. Under the impact of the epidemic, leading global crystal oscillator manufacturers have temporarily stopped production, and the new production capacity of the domestic crystal oscillator market has also been halved, focusing on reducing inventory.

Nowadays, the epidemic is still ravaging the world, and the supply system of international giants has not fully recovered, especially in high-end crystal oscillator regions such as Japanese and American, where the import of some high-end crystal oscillator products is restricted. In the context of increasing demand and depleted inventory, new demand for price increases has also emerged.

Some products are out of stock and have increased prices

As one of the passive electronic components, crystal oscillators have long been dominated by Japanese established manufacturers such as KDS and NDK, with a market share of over 60%. Among them, the Japanese 32.768K surface mount crystal oscillator has been out of stock for a long time due to its highest usage.

At present, the product series with increased price of crystal oscillators mainly include 32.768K, temperature compensated crystal oscillators, and series with higher technical content. ”Cai Qinhong, General Manager of Yangxing Technology, expressed to Jiwei Network.

Looking into the reasons, multiple factors are also interrelated. The most significant impact is the global pandemic, which has greatly affected overseas crystal oscillator manufacturers. The early production shutdowns have accelerated the pace of destocking in the entire market. However, the crystal oscillator products mentioned above, under the pressure of limited exports, have experienced an imbalance in supply and demand, which has accelerated the timing and pace of price increases.

On the contrary, based on the gradual improvement of domestic manufacturers in terms of technological level, production technology, automation degree, etc., the production capacity scale of mid to low end general-purpose crystal oscillator products is gradually expanding, which can still meet the demand of the domestic market. Overall, the supply and demand of crystal oscillator products are relatively balanced, and prices are trending towards stability. The price increase only affects some models, "Cai Qinhong said frankly.

In addition to the price increase situation, the current delivery time of the entire crystal oscillator market is still not optimistic. At present, we are in a state of distribution, and the delivery time has improved compared to the first quarter, but we are still in a relatively short supply state. It is expected that this situation will not ease until the end of this year or the first half of next year, "Cai Qinhong added.

It is worth noting that with the gradual outbreak of market demand for 5G, TWS earphones, and Wi Fi 6, domestic manufacturers have seen an increasing number of domestic substitutes emerge in the mid to low end consumer, industrial, or communication fields. Especially in the context of 5G applications, there will be a 60% -70% substitution space.

Accelerating domestic substitution under new demands

Since the beginning of this year, TWS earphones have been in a period of rapid growth, with high individual product prices and high industry profit margins, which are leveraging a market worth nearly billions. In TWS earphones, the market demand for small-sized, high-precision, low-power thermal crystal oscillators such as 2520 and 2016 is also on the rise.

In addition, high-tech fields such as 5G base stations, automotive electronics, and the Internet of Things have a high demand for the two sizes of 2520 temperature compensated crystal oscillators and thermal sensitive crystals. As a result, orders for this model of product have increased, gradually showing a trend of both quantity and price rising.

According to CS&A's forecast, the global output value of frequency components in 2019 will be 3.2-3.4 billion US dollars, with an annual sales volume of 19-21 billion frequency components. In 2020, 5G drove a new round of replacement demand, and the penetration rate of smart cars gradually increased. In addition, the explosive growth of emerging markets such as TWS earphones led to a rebound in the popularity of quartz crystal oscillators.

Based on the impact of the current epidemic and the significant increase in demand in some fields in the domestic market, domestic crystal oscillator manufacturers have also been given certain opportunities. The domestic substitution space for temperature compensated crystal oscillators and thermosensitive crystal oscillators has increased, and domestic crystal oscillator manufacturers are also focusing on these two technologies to further narrow the gap with Japanese and Taiwanese enterprises, "said a crystal oscillator manufacturer to Jiwei Network.

According to Jiwei Network, among the representative manufacturers of domestic crystal oscillators, Huilun Crystal introduced its thermosensitive crystal product line as early as 2016, with a production capacity of 10KK/M; In 2018, its TCXO/VCTCXO products passed MTK certification. On this basis, in April of this year, Huilun Crystal's 1612 size crystal oscillator product passed the certification and licensing of Juxin Technology, further establishing its strength in the TWS headphone market.

At the same time, in the TWS earphone field, Taijing Technology has entered the product solutions of Hengxuan and Luoda, and raised over 600 million yuan through private placement for projects such as "Industrialization of Micro Crystal Resonators Based on MEMS Technology" and "Research and Industrialization of Temperature Compensated Crystal Oscillators (TCXOs)", expanding its competitiveness in the field of temperature compensated crystal oscillators and strengthening its lithography technology.

In addition, in recent years, the effective application of MEMS technology has provided technical reference and inspiration for the processing of quartz crystals, and has become a key direction for domestic crystal oscillator manufacturers to break through in technology. It has advantages in reducing crystal oscillator volume, improving stability, and promoting the development of crystal oscillator products towards miniaturization and high precision. At present, domestic crystal oscillator manufacturers such as Taijing Technology and Yangxing Technology have gradually broken through in the field of MEMS technology, and their production capacity is gradually increasing.  

Source: China Electronic Components Industry Association

Shanghai Yinte specializes in producing TVS transient diodes (SM8S33A), ESD electrostatic protection components, and other circuit protection components