Linear drive industry segment, application field demand status and market prospect forecast

1. The market demand of the linear drive industry will continue to grow, showing broad market prospects

Linear Actuator, also known as linear actuator, electric actuator, electric cylinder, etc., is an electric drive device that converts the rotary motion of an electric motor into a linear reciprocating motion of a pusher, and together with the supporting control equipment, it constitutes a linear drive system. According to different applications, linear drives can be divided into industrial-grade linear drives and consumer-grade linear drives. Compared with traditional hydraulic and pneumatic drive products, the electric linear drive system has the characteristics of low pollution, good safety, high accuracy and convenient installation, which has obvious advantages in the field of low-frequency and low-load industrial applications, and can also be used as the core accessory of many downstream consumer-level end products.

Currently, the linear drive industry is still on the rise, with the global electric linear actuator market valued at $20.5 billion in 2022. It is expected that in the next decade (2022 to 2032), the global sales of electric linear actuators will grow at a CAGR of 5.3%, and the market size will reach $34.3 billion. With China's economic growth, the upgrading of enterprise production automation and the increase in consumer demand for intelligent products, the application field of linear drive industry will continue to expand, and the market demand will continue to grow, showing broad market prospects.

An overview of the development of the linear drive industry

Linear drive industry segment, application field demand status and market prospect forecast

2. Application analysis and prospect prediction of downstream market segments

In order to meet the different needs of downstream application fields, linear drive products generally show the characteristics of customization and differentiation, and the development status of the linear drive industry is closely related to the development of downstream application fields. An overview of the market development in typical downstream applications is as follows:

(1) Industrial robot industry

Industrial robots are automated, reprogrammable, and multifunctional mechanical execution systems that can handle various industrial automation tasks with the help of programmed programs. Industrial robots have a wide range of applications in the field of industrial automation, which can be divided into handling robots, welding robots, assembly robots, clean robots, material processing robots, etc. The linear drive system can help the robot to achieve various linear actions such as lifting, lowering, pushing, and pulling, and is one of the important components of industrial robots.

With the promulgation and implementation of the domestic intelligent manufacturing industry policy and the continuous promotion and application of industrial automation, the scale of the domestic industrial robot market is also growing rapidly. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other 17 departments issued the "Robot +" Application Action Implementation Plan, which proposes that by 2025, the density of robots in the manufacturing industry will double compared with 2020. In 2023, the global installation of industrial robots will reach more than 590,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 7.2%, of which China is the world's largest robot market, and the installation of industrial robots in China will reach about 310,000 units in 2023. From 2024 to 2030, the compound annual growth rate of global industrial robot installation will reach 6.6%. In the future, industrial robots will continue to develop in the direction of intelligence, refinement, flexibility, and platformization, which also brings opportunities for the development of the linear drive industry.

Statistics of global industrial robot installations from 2019 to 2023

(2) Construction vehicle/special vehicle industry

Linear drive systems can be used in the construction and special vehicle industries, and electric actuators with low to medium loads can be used to raise the hood

Functions such as lowering, step and step adjustments, seat and steering wheel position adjustments improve vehicle safety and comfort, and high-load electric actuators can be used to drive heavy functional equipment such as boom loaders and digging arms.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics show that in 2023, the national fixed asset investment (excluding rural households) will be 50.30 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.0%, of which the cumulative growth rate of infrastructure investment will be 5.9%. Considering that the overall stock of infrastructure investment in the mainland is still large, the demand for construction vehicles still has market potential. Special vehicles refer to vehicles with customized functions for specific needs and industries, including fire trucks, ambulances, sweepers, security vehicles, power maintenance vehicles, drainage rescue vehicles, etc., and the development of the industry is driven by the comprehensive factors such as emergency response and rescue needs, urbanization and population growth, and changes in environmental awareness.

(3) Agricultural machinery industry

At present, the agricultural machinery industry is developing in the direction of large-scale, high-end and electrification, and the global agricultural machinery market is growing rapidly. China is a big agricultural country, but agricultural mechanization started later than developed countries, and the use rate of agricultural machinery is relatively low. The state attaches great importance to the development of agricultural mechanization, and the "14th Five-Year Plan" for the development of national agricultural mechanization proposes that by 2025, the total power of agricultural machinery in the country will be stable at about 1.1 billion kilowatts, and the comprehensive mechanization rate of crop cultivation and harvesting will reach 75%. In the process of promoting the development of agricultural mechanization, the country will drive the demand for agricultural machinery products, which will indirectly drive the development of the linear drive industry.

(4) Solar power generation industry

The mainland is also actively involved in the construction of photovoltaic and solar thermal power generation projects. In the field of photovoltaic power generation, the "China 2050 Photovoltaic Development Outlook" released by the National Development and Reform Commission predicts that by 2025, China's total installed capacity of photovoltaic power generation will reach 730GW, and photovoltaic will become China's largest power source by 2050. In the field of CSP, the Notice on Matters Concerning Promoting the Large-scale Development of CSP issued by the National Energy Administration (NEA) pointed out that during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the annual new construction scale of CSP power generation in China will reach 3GW.

The linear drive system can also be applied to solar brackets such as photovoltaic brackets and solar thermal brackets, especially in photovoltaic tracking bracket systems. Since the angle of the sun changes from moment to moment, traditional stationary photovoltaic panels have certain limitations. According to the movement trajectory and real-time orientation of the sun, the tracking bracket system can automatically issue instructions to control the electric actuator and other bracket components to adjust the angle and direction of the panel, so as to realize the optimal utilization of solar energy in normal weather and the protection of photovoltaic panels in bad weather.

The market size of solar brackets in mainland China is large, but due to imperfect technology and high cost, the penetration rate of tracking brackets is still relatively low, and fixed brackets are still the mainstay. In 2023, the market penetration rate of PV trackers in mainland China will only be about 20%, which is far lower than the penetration rate of developed countries. At present, the overall installed capacity of the photovoltaic industry has slowed down, and the growth rate of market scale has slowed down, but there is still a lot of room for improvement in the penetration rate of tracking brackets. In the future, with the expansion of photovoltaic and solar thermal projects in mainland China, as well as the further improvement of tracking bracket product technology, solar tracking brackets will usher in incremental expansion and stock replacement, and there is still great market growth potential.

(5) Medical equipment industry

In the medical industry, linear drive systems can be applied to medical and health care scenarios such as hospitals, nursing homes, and treatment centers, including electric wheelchairs, medical beds, nursing beds, lifts, dental chairs, traction beds and other medical equipment. Medical equipment can be lifted, tilted, pushed and pulled with the help of electric actuators, making the movement of patients more convenient, medical staff can better approach patients and choose the best care plan, and improve the quality and efficiency of medical services.

With the deepening of the global aging population and the gradual improvement of the medical system in China, the global and Chinese medical device industry has huge market growth potential. The global medical device market is expected to reach $334.5 billion in 2025, of which China's medical device market is expected to reach RMB 450.9 billion by 2025.

(6) Smart home industry

The linear drive system can be applied to indoor, outdoor, living, sleeping, health and other home environments, combined with the Internet of Things and other control technologies, the original home equipment is upgraded to easy to use, higher security, more comfortable, more ergonomic smart home equipment, improve the quality of home life, including sunshade equipment, lifting sofas, lifting home beds, massage chairs, lifting tables and chairs, smart kitchen appliances, etc.

Benefiting from the promotion and application of artificial intelligence, Internet of Things and other technologies, as well as the improvement of people's living standards and the popularization of the concept of healthy and convenient life, the smart home industry market is also in rapid growth.

3. Linear drive the future development trend of the industry

(1) The terminal application field of the product continues to expand

Linear drive systems will be used in more scenarios in the future. In addition to traditional machinery manufacturing, linear drive systems can also be applied to emerging fields such as aerospace, transportation, military equipment, photovoltaic solar thermal, medical equipment, smart home, and smart office. Diversified applications will bring broader market space and growth opportunities to the linear drive industry, and enterprises in the industry will also strengthen cooperation with enterprises in other industries to jointly develop innovative products and solutions to achieve resource sharing and complementary advantages.

(2) The level of intelligence and automation of products is constantly improving

With the development of artificial intelligence, Internet of Things and other technologies, the linear drive system of the future will be more intelligent and automated. Through the integration of advanced sensing technology, intelligent control technology and automation algorithms, electric actuator products will have more sensitive motion control capabilities, independently complete complex motion tasks and workflows, realize intelligent motion control and efficient automation applications, better adapt to various complex working environments, and bring greater benefits and value to industrial production.

(3) Technological innovation will become the focus of competition among enterprises in the industry

Technological innovation is the driving force for the continuous development of emerging industries, and the development of the linear drive industry will pay more attention to technological innovation in the future, including customized demand response, key process technology, product quality assurance, etc. Foreign multinational companies entered the industry earlier and gained a first-mover advantage in patented technology, forming certain barriers. In the future, in the competition of global market share, domestic manufacturers need to compete directly with foreign multinational companies in the field of technological innovation, and continuously improve their technological research and development capabilities and innovation capabilities to gain competitive advantages, so as to gain a larger market share.

4. Analysis of the competition pattern of the linear drive industry

The main competitors of the linear drive industry include European and American multinational companies and enterprises in Chinese mainland and Taiwan. The focus of competition covers multiple dimensions such as product price, R&D design, performance, supply capacity and after-sales service. Foreign multinational companies, such as Denmark's LINAK, the United States' THOMSON, Sweden's EWELLIX, Germany's Dewert Okin, etc., occupy a significant global market share with their long industry history, large-scale production, patented technology, high-quality management, extensive distribution network, stable customer base and high brand awareness. However, the complex organizational structure of multinational companies may lead to a lag in responding to the customized needs of the domestic market, providing room for local enterprises to develop.

Although domestic enterprises started late and their brand influence is relatively weak, especially in the industrial-grade linear drive market, which is dominated by foreign manufacturers, after more than 10 years of efforts, it has basically caught up with the international level in product performance. Taiwanese companies such as TiMOTION have set foot in the linear drive industry earlier than mainland companies and have set up factories in mainland China. Listed companies in mainland China, represented by Jiecang Drive, Kaidi Co., Ltd., Haojiang Intelligence, etc., have achieved a certain scale in the consumer-grade linear drive market such as smart office, medical care, and smart home, and are actively penetrating into the industrial-grade market.

For more industry information, please refer to the "2024-2030 Linear Drive Industry Chain Subdivision Product Research and Prospect Research and Forecast Report" of PwC Consulting, and PwC Consulting also provides special market research projects, industry research reports, industrial chain consulting, project feasibility study reports, specialized and special new small giant certification, market share reports, 15th Five-Year Plan, post-project evaluation reports, BP business plans, industrial maps, industrial planning, blue white papers, national manufacturing single champion enterprise certification, IPO fundraising feasibility study, IPO working paper consulting and other services.

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1 2018-2023 China linear drive industry chain survey

Section 1 Analysis of the upstream and downstream industrial chains of China's linear drive industry

1. Introduction to the principle of the industrial chain model

2. Analysis of the industrial chain structure of the linear drive industry

Section 2 Development and Prospect Forecast of Upstream Industry of China's Linear Drive Industry

1. Introduction of the main upstream products

2. Analysis of the supply situation of major upstream industries

3. Supply forecast and analysis of major upstream industries from 2024 to 2030

Fourth, the price analysis of major upstream industries

5. Price forecast and analysis of major upstream industries from 2024 to 2030

Section 3 Development and Prospect Forecast of Downstream Industries in China's Linear Drive Industry

1. Structure diagram of downstream application fields

2. Analysis of the application fields of downstream market segments

1. Market analysis of linear drives for industrial robot industry