New Needs, New Plans On The Development Path Of Processing Methods, Consumer Electronics Titanium Alloy Investment Opportunities | Investment Research Report
Shanghai Securities recently released the theme of the electronics industry: New Demands, New Plans - Evolutionary Path of Processing Methods, View Consumer Electronics Titanium Alloy Investment Opportunities.
Due to several advantages, titanium alloys are expected to gradually replace stainless steel and aluminum alloys in consumer electronics. At present, the metal structure of electronic products is usually mainly stainless steel and aluminum alloy, and titanium alloy can better have solid and light characteristics compared with stainless steel and aluminum alloy and other materials, thereby reducing the thickness and weight of mobile phones. The weight and weight of mobile phones have increased, and therefore CNC shops, we believe that the continued penetration of titanium alloy into consumer electronics is expected to become the development trend of the industry in the future. Currently, /Pro Max, Xiaomi Mi 14pro Special Edition and Xiaomi Titanium Special Edition have adopted titanium alloy phone middle frame, and some folding screen hinge hinges use titanium alloy components. We believe that one of the important reasons limiting the increase in titanium alloy permeability is the difficulty of machining and the cost of titanium alloys. Currently, driven by new process technologies, the future cost of titanium alloy applications is expected to gradually decrease in the 3C consumer electronics field. Acceptance range.
The processing of 3C consumer electronics titanium alloy structural parts mainly uses CNC processing, 3D printing and MIM. 1) CNC technology is widely used in titanium alloy processing and mature technology fields, but there are some problems, such as cutting processing, severe tool wear and large material waste, which limit the reduction of titanium alloy costs. 2) Compared with traditional CNC processing, 3D printing has technical advantages in reducing material costs, achieving complex part structures and rapidly producing prototypes. The titanium alloy folding screen hinge of Honor Magic V2 uses 3D printed titanium alloy. 3) The advantage of MIM technology is that it can form products with relatively complex parts, simplified processing procedures, uniform and high density and good density and performance, and easy realization of mass and mass production. It can overcome the traditional process treatment of titanium alloy to a certain extent. The middle frame of Xiaomi Titanium uses titanium alloy MIM processing technology.
By comparing the above three technologies, we believe that due to the above shortcomings, some CNC technologies can be gradually replaced by 3D printing and MIM, such as 3D printing and MIM, which can be gradually reduced, but CNC can still be used as a new method for CNC using new technologies. technology. ;Complemented by 3D printing and MIM in the manufacturing field. 3D printing is suitable for the production of small batches and complex structures (such as internal structures, holes or inverted shapes, small and large internal volumes with external openings), as well as preliminary prototypes/preliminary prototypes/samples, and MIM is suitable for Large-scale production (more than 10,000 pieces), and the product structure is suitable for mold molding. We believe that MIM advantages are more prominent in terms of quality-produced titanium alloy consumer electronic parts, since consumer electronics products are usually produced in large quantities. In a large number of cases, the cost advantage of MIM is outstanding, and the accuracy of MIM products is higher than that of 3D printed products. CNC machines have less processing requirements than 3D printing, further reducing costs. Further analysis, we believe that MIM titanium alloy is more suitable for mobile phone middle frames rather than hinges, because the lightweight characteristics of titanium alloy make it an ideal choice for large metal parts, as well as the relatively simple part of the middle frame of the relatively simple structure. The production cost of MIM mold is relatively low. Low. On the contrary, the core requirements of hinges are high wear resistance, high strength and good ductility, etc. These characteristics may not make titanium the best choice. Market trends also confirm this view from one side. Although the Magic V2 launched in July 2023 uses a titanium alloy hinge, the hinge of the new-generation folding screen Magic V3 launched in July 2024 switches to the second-generation Honor Shield Steel structural steel material.
investment advice
Maintain an "increase" rating for the electronics industry. We believe that as new processes mature (3D printing and MIM), 3D printing/MIM titanium alloys are expected to gradually penetrate the consumer electronics industry. It is recommended to pay attention to industry-related companies Jin Sun, Co.cnc manufacturers, Ltd. ,wait.
Risk reminder
The development of technology has not been expected, the cost of titanium alloy powder is less than expected, and there are risks in market competition. (Shanghai Securities Ma, Yang)