ELECTREND (a smart energy think tank)     Published in Guangdong on 2025-05-27 at 09:53

Introduction

The rise of domestic VCM motor manufacturers, with half of the global top 10 occupying the market share, Huawei and Xiaomi promoting the localization of core components, Q Technology's acquisition of TDK reshaping the industry landscape, and the market increment of 800 million units creating new supply chain opportunities.

The mobile phone VCM motor industry appeared calm on the surface in 2024, but in reality, there were undercurrents.

Although Apple and Samsung both saw a year-on-year decline in sales in 2024, they still ranked first and second globally with over 200 million smartphones sold, directly boosting shipments for their core VCM motor suppliers, Alps, Sammi, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics. However, among the top 10 global smartphone brands, Chinese brands such as Xiaomi, Transsion, OPPO, vivo, Honor, Lenovo, and realme occupied 7 spots. Coupled with Huawei's resurgence, the Chinese "wolf pack" remains formidable.

It must be pointed out that due to insufficient product innovation, extended user replacement cycles, and factors such as consumption downgrade, the mobile phone market entered a downturn along with the COVID-19 pandemic, only recovering last year.

It is clear that, having weathered the downturn, major mobile phone brands have begun to adjust and strengthen their supply chain systems in recent years in order to further reduce costs and increase efficiency. This includes high-end flagship models from Huawei and Xiaomi, which have largely begun to replace key camera components such as CMOS sensors and VCM motors with domestic alternatives.

Furthermore, leading suppliers such as O-Film, Q Technology, and Chenrui Optics are all building a closed-loop product model of "lens + VCM + module" to strengthen vertical resource integration. In the new competitive environment, VCM motors have become a must-have.

According to statistics from Chaodian Think Tank, excluding products used by optical manufacturers such as Sunny Optical, Lijing Innovation, and Largan Precision, global VCM motor shipments reached 2.6 billion units in 2024, a 13.1% increase compared to the same period of the previous year. Notably, the top ten manufacturers shipped a total of approximately 2.3 billion units, accounting for a market share of 88.5%, indicating a clear trend of resource concentration.

According to data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) and several authoritative institutions, mobile phone shipments in the Chinese market reached 314 million units in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 8.7%. Among them, smartphones accounted for 93.7%, a year-on-year increase of 6.5%. If we conservatively calculate based on an average of 2.6 VCM motors per phone, the shipment volume of VCM motors in the Chinese market in 2024 also exceeded 800 million units.

The "Top 10 Global Mobile Phone VCM Motor Shipments in 2024" list shows that domestic manufacturers such as Zhonglan Electronics, Youhua Microelectronics, Haoze Electronics, New Thinking, and Bilu have already occupied half of the market share, and are making efforts to enter the high-end mobile phone market with higher value.

Behind these numerous positive developments lies a substantial market growth opportunity for domestically produced VCM upstream components.

Alloy sheets are a crucial raw material for manufacturing VCM motor springs, playing a decisive role in autofocus and optical image stabilization. Previously, these materials were mainly imported, resulting in long delivery cycles and high costs. According to Chaodian Think Tank, the innovative rise of domestic supply chains such as Boway Alloy and Huali Electronics has enabled China to achieve a key breakthrough in surpassing overseas counterparts in metal strength, precision, and precision etching and processing technologies.

For the industry, the biggest news event this year was Q Technology's acquisition of all assets of TDK's micro drive motor solutions business.

Q Technology's controlling shareholder had previously invested in and acquired controlling stakes in two micro drive motor companies, Heyuan Youhua and Xiamen Zhonghui, whose overall revenue already ranks among the top in the industry. After acquiring TDK's assets, Q Technology's controlling shareholder is expected to build an industry-leading enterprise integrating R&D, production, and sales, comprehensively covering high, medium, and low-end micro drive motors.

This not only means that the rankings will be rewritten, but the entire landscape of the mobile phone VCM motor industry will also be reshaped, and a wave of comprehensive domestic substitution is inevitable. This process should not be too long.