Market Trends of China MCU Industry
Automotive Application is Expected to Hold a Considerable Share
- The need for microcontrollers is rising as automobiles become more modernized, especially in applications like airbags and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) solutions. ADAS systems employ electronic technologies such as microcontroller units (MCU), electronic control units (ECU), and power semiconductor devices to assist the vehicle driver while driving or parking.
- Microcontrollers improve vehicle safety and, more broadly, road safety when constructed with a secure human-machine interface. 16-bit microcontrollers are mostly utilized to manage the vehicle for safety and security.
- As demand for new-energy vehicles (NEVs) grows in the largest auto market in the world, US electric car giant Tesla is allegedly expanding its automotive semiconductor business in China by joining a semiconductor joint venture (JV). According to a report from the Chinese news site IThome, Tesla collaborated with Swiss automotive semiconductor manufacturer Annex for the JV, which is situated in Jinan, the capital of East China's Shandong Province.
- According to CAAM, China manufactured 242,000 battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in April 2022, of which 224,000 were for use by passengers and 18,000 were for business purposes. In the same month, China produced 69,300 plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), of which 69,000 were for use by passengers and 300 were for business purposes.
- Shanghai Fudan Microelectronics (Fudan Micro) intends to manufacture microcontrollers (MCUs) for the automobile sector. More than 500 million microcontrollers have been sold by Fudan Micro, which has Fudan University as its major stakeholder, propelling it to the top of the local MCU market for industrial users.
Understand The Key Trends Shaping This Market
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Consumer Electronics and Home Appliances Segment to Witness a Significant Growth
- Microcontrollers are used in many home appliances, such as washing machines, air conditioners, vacuum cleaners, refrigerators, motor control, front panel keypad control, analog sensor measurements, and LED/LCDs. The industry uses 8-, 16-, and 32-bit microcontroller-based circuitry for motor control and TRIAC/LED/LCD drive applications.
- China is a prominent consumer electronics producer, especially in the brown goods product category. It features an extensive electronics manufacturing ecosystem and supply chain. For instance, as per the stats provided by the National Bureau of Statistics of China, in May 2022, around 37 million finished computers were produced in China, an increase from 32.66 million finished computers in April 2022. The region's robust consumer electronics manufacturing capabilities offer lucrative market growth opportunities.
- Furthermore, the increasing demand for the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence in consumer electronics and home appliances is driving the demand in the microcontroller market in China. For instance, in January 2023, the largest home appliance manufacturer in China, Midea Group, announced the expansion of its business into semiconductors, particularly the microcontrollers used in home appliances. Consider that, Consumer electronics businesses in China have long been reliant on imports of MCUs. However, the most recent chip shortage issue has sparked the growth of domestic MCU producers to improve supply chain resilience.
- According to MIIT, China's domestic appliance market has become a multi-billion dollar sector. The market volume for Chinese electrical household appliances reached over CNY 1.4 billion (USD 195.5 million) in just the first 10 months of 2021. Also, according to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, Retail sales of consumer electronics and home appliances in China reached over CNY 79 billion (USD 11 billion) in December 2022. Chinese enterprises that manufacture household electronics are becoming more significant players in the global market as the home appliance market in China grows. The increasing production of consumer electronics and home appliances will drive market growth for MCU during the forecast period in the country.
