The companies introduced in this article have the following characteristics:
(1) The first silver sintering equipment has completed the customer's mass production process verification, and has completed the process verification of a number of packaging enterprises, and the order is being gradually implemented, with growth potential.
(2) The high-speed and high-precision die bonding machine has the world's leading level in die bonding speed and die bonding accuracy, and domestic substitution can be expected.
(3) Starting from the electronic assembly business, from the "fruit chain" to the "car chain" and then to the "core chain", the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China has made the electronic assembly precision welding equipment "single champion of the manufacturing industry".
"Fruit chain": based on consumer electronics, deep cultivation of precision welding equipment
According to the global shipment data, the scale of the mobile phone market expanded rapidly from 2009 to 2016, and the form and performance of mobile phones have gone through many rounds of iterations, and smartphones have gradually become an indispensable tool for people's entertainment life, but after 2017, the market size has gradually stabilized.
From the perspective of the mainland, according to the People's Data Research Institute, the mainland has more than 1 billion smartphone users, and the market focus has gradually shifted from attracting new customers to operating the existing market.
From the perspective of global renewal demand, due to factors such as the long R&D cycle of major innovations and changes in the macroeconomic environment, the replacement cycle has been extended in recent years. On the one hand, mobile phones are becoming more and more functional, which can ensure a good customer experience for a longer period of time, and on the other hand, there is a lack of innovative products to attract users and use cases that go beyond the current performance of mobile phones.
According to Wind data, global smartphone shipments in 2023Q1/Q2/Q3 decreased by 14.6%/7.8%/0.1% year-on-year, respectively, and the year-on-year situation has continued to improve since 2022Q4.
In terms of the domestic market, according to Flush data, domestic smartphone shipments in 2023Q1/Q2/Q3 were 6544/6570/67.05 million units, down 11.8%/2.1%/6.3% year-on-year respectively, and the decline in smartphone shipments in the Chinese market in the second and third quarters was narrower than that in the first quarter. According to IDC, in 2023Q2, the market share of China's high-end mobile phones above $600 reached 23.1%, an increase of 3.1pct compared with the same period in 2022, and the share of mobile phones under $200 also increased. In terms of brands, under IDC monitoring, Apple's and Huawei's domestic shipments in 2023Q2 increased by 6% and 76% year-on-year, respectively, significantly leading the industry.
The launch of the Huawei Mate 60 series of mobile phones demonstrates the enhancement of the independent and controllable ability of domestic brands, and at the same time, there are also obvious innovative breakthroughs in functions. According to a report by the Securities Daily in October 210, due to the long-term shortage of Mate 60 series mobile phones, it has seen a premium of 10% to 60% on third-party platforms, and Huawei has increased the target of the Mate 60 series mobile phones by more than 20% in the second half of the year, and set the target of smartphone shipments in 2024 at 60 million to 70 million units, a significant increase from the shipment of 30 million units in 2022. Recently, according to information from China Mobile's procurement and bidding network, China Mobile purchased five mobile phone product terminals, including Huawei Mate 60 Equity Edition, with a demand of 1.2 million units. In addition to Huawei, Apple, Honor and other brands have also held product launch conferences. The concentrated launch of new products by leading brands may be expected to drive some terminal demand.
The combination of AI large models and mobile phones is considered to be a point in time for the replacement of the mobile phone industry. A number of mobile phone manufacturers have developed R&D layouts, hoping to give users a more intelligent experience through AI models. Qualcomm, MediaTek and other mobile phone chip manufacturers are also following the trend and are committed to providing strong support for the operation of large models.
Some upstream enterprises in the industrial chain have improved their operations and paid attention to the demand for new machines. Recently, Sunny Optics, Yujingguang and other companies announced their business conditions, and the demand for mobile phone optical devices is improving, which reflects the shipment situation of relevant mobile phone manufacturers or has improved. In addition, in the field of semiconductors, WIN, MediaTek and other companies have also reported that customer demand is gradually improving.
Kuike intelligently binds domestic head customers to build a 3D/4D millimeter-wave radar production capacity. The company combines precision welding, machine vision, software systems, collaborative robots and automation integration and other advantageous technologies to provide complete automation solutions for customers in the new energy vehicle industry. According to the company's semi-annual report, the company has provided 3D/4D millimeter-wave radar automatic production lines for many leading enterprises such as Xingyu Auto Lamp, Sensitech, Chuhang Technology, and Xingyi Dao Technology.
The millimeter-wave radar automatic production line consists of two parts: assembly and detection. The production process includes: PCBA locking, visual inspection, laser welding of plastic housing, precision assembly, labeling/engraving FCT testing, air permeability testing, control unit air tightness testing, etc. It is equipped with production management systems such as MES for the whole line, process data traceability, product process control and production kanban.
"Car chain": provide a complete set of automated production lines for automotive electronics manufacturers
Automotive electronics is a general term for car body automotive electronic control devices and on-board automotive electronic control devices. According to the "2020 Automotive Electronics Research Report" released by China Automotive News, the scale of China's automotive electronics market has been growing in recent years, and it is expected that the scale of China's automotive electronics market will reach 978.3 billion yuan in 2022, with a compound annual growth rate of 10% in the next five years. According to the China Business Industry Research Institute, the scale of China's automotive electronics market is expected to grow to 1,097.3 billion yuan in 2023.
Intelligent and electrified propulsion has increased the cost of bicycle electronic devices. The rapid process of intelligence and electrification in the automotive industry in China has promoted the increase in the proportion of automotive electronics in the cost of the whole vehicle. With the rapid development of the new energy vehicle industry, it is expected to drive the high growth of demand for energy management systems, electric drive systems, charging and distribution systems, electric control systems and other related automotive electronics. According to the China Business Industry Research Institute, automotive electronics accounted for about 34% of the total vehicle manufacturing cost in 2020, and it is expected that this proportion will be close to 50% in 2030.
From the perspective of the automotive electronics market segment, vehicle electronics is supplemented, and the automotive electronic control system of the car body is dominant. Automotive electronic products can be divided into two categories according to function, one is the vehicle electronic device, such as the car information system, navigation, audio entertainment, etc.; the other is the car body vehicle electronic control system, including power control system, chassis and safety control system, body electronic device. From the perspective of market share, according to the data of China Commercial Industry Research Institute, the largest proportion is the power control system (28.7%), followed by the chassis and safety control system (26.7%), and the proportion of body electronics and on-board electronics is 22.8% and 21.8% respectively.
According to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the total sales volume of new energy vehicles in China from January to September 2023 reached 6.278 million units, a year-on-year increase of 37.5%, and the cumulative penetration rate for the whole year reached 29.8%. In 2023Q1, due to the Spring Festival holiday and the decline of subsidy policies, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles (NEVs) has declined, but the penetration rate has gradually improved month-on-month, reaching 31.6% in September. After the subsidy decline, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles continues to improve, reflecting the high certainty of the trend of vehicle electrification.
According to the data of high-tech robots, the "three electrics" system accounts for about 50% of the cost of new energy vehicles. Among them, the power battery is the most core component of the "three electrics" system, which is related to the core points of the new energy vehicle mileage, service life, driving safety, etc., accounting for about 38% of the cost of new energy vehicles, in addition, the drive motor and electronic control system account for about 6.5% and 5.5% respectively. Benefiting from the increase in the penetration rate of new energy vehicles, the market space for the "three electrics" system is broad.
"Core chain": secondary packaging to primary packaging, the technology is in the same vein
Power semiconductors are one of the core devices in the electronics industry chain. It can realize power conversion and circuit control, and mainly plays the role of power conversion, power amplification, power switch, line protection, inverter (DC to AC) and rectification (AC to DC) in the circuit. Power devices such as MOSFETs, IGBTs, and SiC MOSFETs are in high demand. According to different performance, it is widely used in many fields such as automobiles, charging piles, photovoltaic power generation, wind power generation, consumer electronics, rail transit, industrial motors, energy storage, aerospace and military industry.
IGBTs are the core components of electric vehicles and DC charging piles, which directly affect the power release speed, vehicle acceleration ability and high speed of electric vehicles. IGBTs are mainly used in electric control systems for new energy vehicles, on-board air conditioning control systems, charging piles and other fields. For example, in smart charging piles, IGBTs are used as switching elements. IGBT modules account for nearly 10% of the total cost of new energy vehicles and about 20% of the cost of charging piles. According to EVtank's forecast, the market size of new energy vehicle IGBT in mainland China is expected to reach 16.5 billion yuan in 2025, with a CAGR of about 31% from 2020 to 2025.
Silicon carbide (SiC) materials have become a better solution in the field of high-end power semiconductors. Silicon carbide (SiC) material is one of the ideal materials for making high-temperature, high-frequency, high-power, and high-voltage devices: a compound semiconductor material composed of carbon and silicon. Compared with traditional silicon (Si)-based materials, silicon carbide (SiC) has about 3 times the band gap, about 4 times the thermal conductivity, nearly 10 times the breakdown field strength, and has a high saturated electron drift rate. 3. The core advantages are reflected in the characteristics of high pressure resistance, high temperature resistance, and high frequency.
Silicon carbide SiC offers advantages in several application areas due to its characteristics, such as:
New energy vehicle motor drive system: SiC power module is significantly smaller than silicon-based module of the same specification, which can reduce power loss, increase switching frequency, and make heat dissipation easier, which will significantly reduce the volume and cost of inductors, capacitors and other peripheral components, reduce the volume of vehicle cooling system, and realize the integration of inverter and motor, reducing volume and weight. It can comprehensively increase the cruising range of new energy vehicles by about 5%~10%.
DC charging pile for new energy vehicles: improve the charging efficiency by at least 1% to achieve a conversion efficiency of more than 96%; due to the low dependence of SiC power devices on temperature, it can improve the power conversion efficiency during high temperature in summer; reduce power loss and improve the economic benefits of large-scale charging stations; the cost of charging pile system is basically the same as that of silicon-based, and the cost performance is high.
Photovoltaic & Wind Power: Compared with silicon-based modules, the use of SiC power modules in photovoltaic inverters can improve the inverter conversion efficiency by about 2%, and the comprehensive conversion efficiency can reach 98%. The use of SiC power modules for wind power rectifiers, inverters, and transformers is conducive to improving efficiency, reducing losses, and improving economic benefits.
Large servers, data centers: In the process of operation of large servers, frequent power conversion will be carried out according to the needs of load equipment, and power devices are the main components of the power supply of such equipment. SiC power devices have the characteristics of high efficiency, high temperature resistance and long service life in power conversion, which can save energy consumption and reduce maintenance costs for users in applications.
Crack Intelligence is committed to breaking through the core packaging equipment
Kuike Intelligent is committed to breaking through the core semiconductor packaging process and developing the solid crystal bond synthesis sleeve solution. The company's precision welding business and semiconductor packaging die bonding process have a certain degree of similarity, so it expands from secondary packaging to primary packaging. In October 2021, the company registered and established Crack Technology Japan Co., Ltd. to integrate the Japanese R&D team, and in December 2021, it registered and established Crack Venture Capital Co., Ltd. to invest and acquire in the field of semiconductor equipment.
In 2023, the company signed the "Agreement on Entering the Zone" with Changzhou Wujin National High-tech Industrial Development Zone, planning to invest a total of 1 billion yuan in the construction of semiconductor packaging equipment R&D and manufacturing projects, focusing on creating complete sets of semiconductor packaging solutions, and actively laying out the field of advanced packaging high-end equipment. The main body of the project is Kuike Core Equipment Technology Co., Ltd.
In 2022, the company's packaging equipment will complete sales of 10 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 443%. In 2022, the company's power module laser marking & degumming special equipment and Clipbond vacuum welding furnace and other products achieved sales breakthroughs, and the die bonding and packaging equipment segment achieved a revenue of 15.2123 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 443%, and a gross profit margin of 30.59%. According to the 2022 annual report, the company is also in the layout of research and development of thick aluminum wire bonding machines and other equipment. 2023
The core products of the year were gradually promoted and developed, and the future potential was built by research and development. The representative products of die bonding and packaging equipment developed by the company are: SiC power device packaging solutions (pre-sintering die bonding machine, silver sintering equipment, etc.), discrete device power device packaging equipment (high-speed eutectic die bonding machine), IGBT power module packaging solutions (IGBT multi-function die bonding machine, formic acid welding furnace and die bonding AOI). In 2023, the company will actively promote new semiconductor equipment products through SEMICON CHINA, PCIM ASIA, NEPCON ASIA, and electronica in Munich, Germany. Among them, the crack core silver sintering solution won the SEMI Innovative Product Award. The composite R&D team has become the cornerstone of the company's semiconductor packaging equipment business development. Crack Intelligence can absorb Japanese technical talents, integrate domestic R&D strength, take advantage of relatively low domestic manufacturing costs, and develop semiconductor equipment with both price-performance ratio and product strength, and this business segment is expected to increase its volume in the future.
Kuike Intelligent has successfully developed the core equipment of silicon carbide device packaging - nano silver sintering equipment
Nano silver sintering has become the core process of silicon carbide device packaging. Compared with the traditional soldering process, nano-silver sintering technology is conducive to improving the reliability of products, and the silver materials used have the characteristics of high electrical conductivity and high thermal conductivity, which have attracted much attention from the industry in recent years. The advantages of nano-silver sintering process are as follows:
(1) low-temperature sintering: nano-scale metal, will show a strong volume effect, quantum size effect, surface effect and quantum tunneling effect, in the sintering process, the atoms between the nano-silver particles in contact with each other diffuse each other, forming interconnected joints, when a large number of nano-silver particles are stacked with each other, you can realize the formation of a lump metal sintering body at a temperature lower than the melting point of its bulk metal, so as to realize the welding between the chip and the solder paste and the substrate.
(2) High thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity: Under the silver sintering process, when the porosity of the connecting layer is 10%, its electrical and thermal conductivity can reach 90% of pure silver, which is much higher than that of ordinary soft brazing solder. Due to the performance characteristics of silver materials, compared with the soldering method, in the power module, the power cycle life of the interconnect using the silver sintering process is 2~3 times higher than that of the soldering solder, the thickness of the sintered layer is 70% thinner than the soldering layer, the thermal conductivity is increased by about 3 times, and the thermal resistance is about 1/156 of the thermal resistance of the soldering structure.
(3) High reliability: Due to the high melting point of silver of 961°C, the typical fatigue effect of soldered joints with a melting point of less than 300°C will not occur.
(4) The material is relatively environmentally friendly: the traditional soldering may use lead-containing brazing, and the material used in the silver sintering technology does not contain lead.
More than 30 years in the field of electronic intelligent equipment More than 30 years in the field of electronic intelligent equipment.
Founded in 1993, Kuike Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd. is a national high-tech enterprise, which has been deeply engaged in the field of precision electronic assembly for many years and is committed to providing intelligent equipment solutions. The company continues to innovate and make breakthroughs in motion control, software systems, vision algorithms, precision modules and other technologies, and now forms four major plates: precision welding assembly equipment, visual inspection process equipment, intelligent manufacturing complete sets of equipment, and die bonding and packaging equipment, serving intelligent terminals, new energy vehicles, new energy, intelligent IoT, semiconductors and other industries, and promoting industrial digitalization and intelligent upgrading.
Judging from the current revenue composition, precision welding assembly equipment accounts for a relatively high proportion of the company's business. The company continues to deepen cooperation with major international consumer electronics customers, and at the same time, in response to changes in industry needs, it is also actively expanding customer coverage. According to the company's reply on the official website of "SSE e Interactive", the company's customers fully cover the top 10 global electronic manufacturing EMS such as Foxconn, Pegatron, and Flextronics, as well as domestic manufacturers such as Luxshare Precision, Goertek, AAC, Huaqin, Wingtech, UMC, Fiberhome, BYD, etc., and the company's products serve smart terminal brands such as Apple, Huawei, and Xiaomi, as well as automobile brands such as BYD, SAIC-GM, and Li 10.
Kuike Intelligent from "fruit chain" to "car chain" and then to "core chain" From "fruit chain" to "car chain" and then to "core chain". With its long-term accumulation of precision welding technology in the field of consumer electronics, Kuike has successfully expanded horizontally from the "Apple" industry chain to the "automobile" industry chain, providing one-stop complete equipment services and solutions in the fields of intelligent driving and electric drive and electronic control to automotive electronics suppliers. From a longitudinal point of view, Kuike has expanded to more precise semiconductor packaging "core chain" equipment, and has developed IGBT packaging solutions and SiC silver sintering process solutions, and will actively deploy higher-end advanced packaging high-end die bonding machines in the future to enrich the product line.
The company continues to deepen cooperation with leading customers in many fields, and has established a good global brand image and leading market position, representing customers such as Apple, Luxshare Precision, Goertek, AAC Technologies, Foxconn, Huaqin, Wingtech, Amphenol, Helian Yongshuo, Hikvision, CATL, BYD, Inovance Technology, Sungrow, CRRC, Sanhua Intelligent Control, United Automotive Electronics, Huayu Automobile, Wemyss, Chuhang Technology, SMIC, Yangjie Technology, etc.
The company's precision welding assembly equipment covers laser welding equipment, hot pressure welding equipment, optional welding equipment, general welding equipment, BGA rework equipment, intelligent tool equipment and other large and small assembly equipment. The company's customized equipment is developed and replaced according to the customer's product iteration needs, and the standard equipment meets the industry's usual life cycle specifications, generally in 5-10 years. In recent years, the company's hot pressure welding, laser welding and other equipment have continued to iterate, and continue to expand the market share of various intelligent terminal products such as mobile phones, watches, pads, and headphones in large consumer electronics clients. The company's selective wave soldering equipment can meet the high-reliability welding needs of new energy vehicles and new energy optical storage. The welding equipment market capacity is broad, and the company's market share still has significant room for improvement.
Customer demand in the consumer electronics sector will slow in 2023, but we expect precision welded plate revenue to grow in 2024-2025 compared to 2023.
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