The trend towards intelligent and connected vehicles has led to continuous improvements in overall vehicle performance. The core of these improved levels of intelligence is the vehicle's ability to make a variety of simple or complex decisions about the data generated and collected internally and externally. It can be said that the new fuel driving the car in the new era is electricity and data.

Data connectivity has always been a very large part of automotive connectivity, and cars need data to be transferred quickly and seamlessly from any source location to other destinations. The volume of data in the car is now growing exponentially, whether it is the exchange of data between the vehicle and external devices or the vehicle's internal systems, or the interoperability of data between the vehicle and the driver, the volume of data exchanged between these exchanges is beginning to explode.

High-speed, high-frequency connectors in automobiles

Among these data growth is particularly reflected in the automation functions, sensor fusion, the car's advanced features require a large amount of data as the basis for processing the more data required bandwidth will be higher and higher, the larger the bandwidth to enhance the automotive demand for higher speed connectors. High-speed connectors in automobiles include Fakra, Mini-Fakra, HSD and Ethernet connectors.

Ethernet connectors are widely used and are now starting to move into the automotive sector. fakra connector, a coaxial signal transmission connector, is a common standard connector for RF connections in the automotive industry, developed by Rosenberger, with good shielding, good signal stability, fast transmission rate, high cost performance, small size, etc. Mini-Fakra, an upgraded version of the Fakra connector. In order to match automotive applications without sacrificing transmission performance in the premise of the size of a great compression. Compared with the standard FAKRA connector, Mini-Fakra can save up to 75% of space and reduce the weight by 32%. HSD is widely used in the field of automotive electronic entertainment system, is an important part of the signal transmission between the car multimedia equipment, known for its high shielding high stability.

In the data volume continues to improve at the moment, the automotive high-speed high-frequency connectors also began to usher in the market release phase. According to CITIC Securities estimates, the domestic high-speed high-frequency connector market size is expected to reach 23.4 billion yuan in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of nearly 20%. Although the growth rate is slightly lower compared to automotive high-voltage connectors, but as a traditional track, in technology and market demand to promote high-speed high-frequency connector growth rate has not been low.

Automotive high-frequency high-speed connector market pattern

High-speed high-frequency connectors like this non-high-voltage field, domestic and foreign manufacturers have been working for many years in the market, the market pattern and development direction are very clear. From the industry landscape, Rosenberger, TE, Amphenol, APTIV firmly in the global high-speed connector first tier, especially Rosenberger, relying on leadership in Fakra can be said to have single-handedly developed the industry standard for high-speed connectors. Domestic manufacturers Electro-Connect Technology, Yihua, Lixin, Leimu Electronics, is in the second tier of the global.

Electro-Connect Technology has a complete range of automotive high-speed connectors, covering Fakra, MINI Fakra, HSD, Ethernet, HD cameras and so on. Among them, Fakra series harnesses can provide coaxial waterproof modules, coaxial waterproof harnesses, 4-way differential signal waterproof connectors and harnesses, and other comprehensive connection solutions. Relying on the complete product matrix and flexible solutions, Electrolux Technology has strongly promoted the domestic substitution in the field of automotive high-speed connectors.

Lixin Precision has also accumulated deep experience in domestic high-speed connectors. Relying on its precision manufacturing capabilities, Lixin has designed and developed a product line covering all connectors within the vehicle, and cooperated with various vehicle manufacturers to develop related automotive connection components. Last year, Huawei and Lixin precision research on the automotive high-speed connector components patent was granted.

From the point of view of the transmission performance, the gap between domestic and foreign products is actually not very large, but the first tier of international manufacturers in the cost control and scale effect is much ahead, the reliability of a higher grasp. Transmission speed have been able to do very high, the remaining challenge is the reliability, that is, the connector in the all-electric high-power environment to meet the strict requirements of electromagnetic compatibility, to ensure that the link will not produce useless radiation, but also will not be affected by electromagnetic. The current first-tier manufacturers of high-speed connectors, reliability or a little higher than the domestic.

Seemingly unchanging market pattern is not without opportunities for change, in the automotive data volume expansion now, the vehicle communication architecture is facing a reconfiguration. Fakra-type connector technology is inevitable, but in the new car Ethernet high-speed connection, domestic manufacturers have a lot of opportunities. The standard for in-vehicle Ethernet is still being improved, and many domestic manufacturers are taking advantage of the standard to improve their voice and grasp more opportunities.

Summary

In addition to the trend of faster transmission rates, high-speed connectors are also developing towards miniaturization, and domestic manufacturers are moving fast in this direction. Such as the electric link technology high-speed connectors to improve the embedding height while ensuring that the voltage VSWR and other key technical indicators and international manufacturers on par. And with the advantage of localized customization, through cooperation with OEMs, the replacement of domestic high-speed connector manufacturers clearly began to increase speed.

Automotive electrification, network connectivity, intelligence has given rise to technological changes in the automotive connector industry, high-speed connector industry landscape is no longer static, domestic and foreign manufacturers in the new track competition is becoming increasingly intense.