JiWei Network news, "I heard that Xinli also began to do the camera." ”
In view of the current dynamics in the market, an industry insider said. The person revealed: "Xinli has camera-related business, including mobile phone camera modules and car camera modules, and Xinli has stepped into the car lens market this time. ”
The author asked the relevant personnel of Xinli International, and the other party said: "I don't know. ”
However, if it is true as the market rumors say, then this means that the car lens market will usher in a heavy manufacturer, and for Xinli International, its in-vehicle production line products will be further enriched, but for the car lens manufacturers, or lose a large customer.
Mobile phone lenses have been mired in a price war
Unlike the business composition of optical manufacturers, Xinli International's main business covers not only camera modules, fingerprint recognition, but also liquid crystal displays and other products, covering smartphones, automobiles and other markets.
In the first camp of optics, Xinli International is currently the only manufacturer without mobile phone lens products. According to the disclosed information, OFILM, Shunyu Optics, Qiu Ti Technology and other friends in the same industry have launched mobile phone lens related products.
Of course, this is not unrelated to the current situation of the mobile phone lens market.
"At present, the mobile phone lens market has been mired in price, and the price of mobile phone lenses above 2KK is quite serious." A person in the mobile phone industry chain told the author bluntly, "Since the beginning of this year, the unit price of mobile phone lenses has dropped significantly, and the unit price of 13M mobile phone lenses has fallen from more than 3 yuan earlier to more than 2 yuan at present, reducing about 1 yuan, and the unit price of 8M lens products has also declined significantly." ”
Another person who is deeply involved in the mobile phone industry chain said that the unit price of 5M mobile phone lenses has been less than 1 yuan, and in the off-season period, mobile phone lens factories are reducing prices in order to take the project. Some people in the industry even predict that some lens factories may be in order to grab orders, or even produce at a loss.
In fact, the key factor in the decline in the unit price of mobile phone lenses is the imbalance between supply and demand caused by the continuous decline in the mobile phone market and the "swarming" expansion of mobile phone lens factories under capital operation in recent years.
First of all, in recent years, the domestic mobile phone market shipments have declined significantly, although the 2021 epidemic has eased slightly and the new 5G outlet has driven some consumers' replacement demand, but the increment that can be pulled is limited, so from the data point of view, even if the shipments of smart phones in 2021 have a certain rebound compared with 2020, it is lower than in 2018 and 2019, and the actual growth trend is not as expected.
The same is true of global mobile phone shipments.
According to IDC statistics, global smartphone shipments from 2018 to 2021 were 1.455 billion units, 1.39 billion units, 1.2 billion units and 1.35 billion units (estimated). IDC pointed out that due to the third quarter of 2021 mobile phone shipment data below market expectations, as well as continued chip shortages and logistics challenges, IDC has lowered its growth forecast for 2021 from 7% to 5.3%, and predicts that the compound growth rate will decline moderately in the coming year.
It can be seen that global smartphone shipments are falling into a lack of growth.
On the other hand, the entire mobile phone camera market, from the single camera in 2000, to the dual camera in 2011, and then to the rear quad camera in 2019, the number of cameras for a single mobile phone continues to increase, and the current number of configurations can reach 6 or more. The number of multiple cameras is directly proportional to the number of mobile phone lenses, so it directly drives the increase in demand for mobile phone lenses.
(Source: Frost & Sullivan)
Driven by the demand of the downstream terminal market, in recent years, major mobile phone lens manufacturers such as Sunny Optics, OFILM, Huaxin Optoelectronics, Herui, Xingjuyu, Dole, and AAC have expanded production.
However, the direction of the camera also seems to be deviating from expectations. According to the Omdia "Smartphone Model Market Tracker" report data, due to some external factors, in the second quarter of 2021, the share of quad cameras declined, and triple cameras accounted for the largest share. At the same time, the share of dual cameras that has been decreasing in 2021 is also picking up.
On the other hand, this year's domestic high-end mobile phone sales are also not good, forcing mobile phone lens manufacturers in the supply chain system of high-end mobile phone brands to penetrate into the low-end market, further intensifying the competitive situation of the mobile phone lens market.
Soon, fierce competition was also reflected in the unit price of the product. Industry insiders told the author that the current mobile phone lens has fallen into the red sea of prices.
As a customer of mobile phone lenses, Xinli is more aware of the current situation of the lens market. "At present, mobile phone lens orders are concentrated in head enterprises, and the market competition has been quite fierce, so at this stage, for Xinli, it is even more unlikely to step into the market of mobile phone lenses that have been deeply involved in the price of the Red Sea." said the above-mentioned person.
Stepping into the in-vehicle lens market?
From the perspective of the business composition of Xinli International, in addition to liquid crystal displays, mobile phone camera modules, fingerprint recognition modules and other products, Xinli International also plays an important role in the world's top automotive display suppliers.
Xinli International has revealed that it has obtained orders from the world's leading car manufacturers such as Mercedes-Benz, Changan and Great Wall, and the visibility can reach more than 2 years, and it is expected that the display demand (TFT-LCD) of each new car will reach 4 to 5 pieces.
It is worth mentioning that in addition to the car display, Xinli International has also been deeply engaged in the car camera module market for many years. According to industry insiders, at present, the domestic car camera module is mostly concentrated in the aftermarket, but the Xinli International car camera module has entered the automotive frontal assembly market. At the same time, the person said, "At present, Xinli International has also begun to cross-border into the market of automotive lenses. ”
If it is true as the rumors say, then this means that the car camera market will usher in a strong opponent.
In fact, careful observation can be found that the current mobile phone lens, security lens manufacturers are competing to enter the car lens market, mobile phone, security camera chip manufacturers have also launched the car camera chip, they value the car this incremental market.
According to the "Marketing Analysis of Lens Units Markets (2019 Edition)" released by TSR, the global automotive lens market sold 81.77 million pieces in 2016, and increased to 176 million pieces in 2019, with an average annual compound growth rate of 29.09%. The global automotive lens market is expected to continue to grow steadily in the coming years, with sales and market size expected to reach approximately 205 million units and $1.353 billion in 2023, respectively.
(Source: TSR)
However, it is not easy for the car lens to cross from 0 to 1. Some people in the industry said that in order to quickly enter a new market, the best way is to adopt the method of acquiring existing enterprises, because this can ensure the purpose of rapid development on the basis of mass production experience and customers. (Proofreading | new)