The consumption of components in China

Last year, the global consumption of components in China exceeded 30%: a percentage that positions the Country atop the markets of this product type.

With 30.1% of the global consumption in 2015, China has become the main market of electronic components worldwide.

In 2010, the year with which we make the comparison here, the Chinese incidence on the total was by 22.6%: a relevant difference.

It is worth premising that, as usual, the figures concerning semiconductors and passive have official character and they are surveyed by competent trade associations while those concerning the “others” are fruit of estimates formulated by various sources.

The Chinese market

With a population of 1,380 million inhabitants, China is the biggest Country in the world. Due to its sizes, its markets are the largest for several products, not only consumer, but also for those undergoing further machining. This thanks to an industrial structure of notable weight and constantly expanding.

In this context are framed electronic components, whose sales have grown on average by 15% yearly during the last five years.

The strongest growth occurred for the “others”; the datum, however, has a relative meaning since in this sector classification criteria have changed.

It is instead worth highlighting that the Chinese growth is much higher than the world one, which in the considered period scored the overall 15%, with an annual average by about 3%, i.e.one fifth of the Chinese one.

The incidence of semiconductors on the total decreased from 71% in 2010 to 64.3% in 2015: it is a percentage in line with the standard ones in industrialized Countries.

Application sectors mirror what happens in the other nations, too.

Official data on the matter are not released. Fragmentary news, published on the sector press, assign 35% to automotive and an almost equal percentage to electronics of all kinds, both consumer and industrial. The remaining 30% is subdivided among the various industrial branches. Obviously, the growth of these sectors has been the determinant cause of the componentry development.

Manufacturing and manufacturers

According to the surveys by the Taiwanese agency DigiTimes Research, the Chinese production of semiconductors has grown from a value of 21 billion dollars in 2010 to 68 billions in 2015, with the 176% total growth.

The production of passive components is indicated in 9.2 billion dollars, against about 5 in 2010. Concerning the other components, the production, according to reliable estimates, is expected to overcome slightly 20 billion dollars.

For several years now, China has been an important consumer of electronic products; in the course of the last five years, the industries in the Country have tried to become self-sufficient and they have partly reached that goal, producing about 64% of the national demand. Various governmental facilities have favoured this aim. Therefore, in various areas dozens of small companies, often state-owned, have been established.  Main Chinese manufacturer of semiconductors is SMIC Group, with headquarters in Shanghai and operating in the Country with a good 8 factories, employing about 10,000 workers.

In addition to it, are headquartered in China the plants of various big multinational companies of the sector: the South-Korean Hynix, the Taiwanese Tsmc, the United States Intel and the Dutch Nxp.

Machinery

Important sector, close to components, is the ambit of machinery for the production of semiconductors. In 2015 China reached here the second place in the world, with a consumption of 6.4 billion dollars, amounting to about 17% of the total, surpassing South Korea, which scored 6.2 billions. Taiwan still ranks first with 9.6 billions, amounting to 24.6 %. Huge investments in course today will strengthen the Chinese ranking in this field.

Prospects

The Chinese economy goes on growing, even if in 2015 some uncertainty trends emerged. It is natural to suppose that also the consumption of components will continue its growth, perhaps with a lower growth rate than the previous one, probably between 8% and 10% yearly.

It seems instead likely to go on, at least at present, the production development. The Chinese industry pursues the self-sufficiency and new investments are made with constant rate: the finishing line will be reached in few years.

Consumption of components in China in 2010 and in 2015 (billion dollars)

Source: Ecac (Electronic Components Association of China), Csia (China Semiconductor Industry Association)