Among all kinds of capacitors, tantalum electrolytic capacitors have high reliability, low leakage current and stable performance, especially chip tantalum electrolytic capacitors have high capacity, small size, strong self-healing ability, and low impedance/equivalent series resistance (ESR). , high reliability and many advantages, so it is widely used in communications, computers, automotive electronics, radar, missiles, aviation, aerospace, automatic control devices, electronic measuring instruments and other fields. As the world's largest manufacturer of tantalum capacitors, KEMET Electronics has absolute right to speak in the future development of tantalum capacitors. Although KEMET was formally established in 1987, its history in components can be traced back to 1919. The company name KEMET is also derived from the combination of "chemical" and "metallurgy", indicating that the company will be associated with chemicals and metallurgy. KEMET's products are most proud of the fact that all civilian products must pass the strict US military standard inspection to ensure their excellent performance. At present, in addition to tantalum capacitors, KEMET's products also include MLCC, ceramic capacitors and other products, which are the global tantalum capacitors. The leader of capacitors, what direction will tantalum capacitors develop in the future? What applications will promote the sustainable development of passive devices? What role does the Chinese market play in the future development of passive devices? In the series of reports on China, KEMET CEO Per-Olof Loof and John, VP Sales Asia Pacific E.Schneider accepted an exclusive interview with a special correspondent, and shared some of his views on the future development of China's electronics industry and passive devices.
Reporter: Could you please talk about KEMET's development in China and its investment in China in the past five years?
Per-Olof Loof: A lot has happened in the past 5 years, we are growing very fast, 5 years ago, we did not have a factory in mainland China, but now we have five factories (one is under construction), 5 years ago, we were in China There are only a few salesmen in the mainland, and now we have nearly 2,000 employees in mainland China! I like the dynamic and changing market in China very much! Every time I come to China, I have a different feeling! The Chinese market has left me very Impressive!
We have many product lines, and the overall sales have exceeded 1 billion US dollars! 45% of our products are contributed by tantalum polymer capacitors. Our factory in Suzhou produces tantalum polymer capacitors. In addition, the factory in Suzhou also To produce standard tantalum capacitors and ceramic capacitors, we are currently investing in a new factory in Suzhou to produce aluminum polymer electrolytic capacitors. This factory will be completed before Christmas this year, mainly for the European market, and its production capacity is higher than other factories.
Reporter: As far as your products are concerned, what is unique compared to other competitors?
Per-Olof Loof: First of all, we do better than others in customer service, we have won the TTI North America Outstanding Supplier Gold Award for 13 consecutive years (TTI North America) America’s 2007 Supplier Excellence Award), last year also won the 2007 Asia Outstanding Supplier Gold Award, last year we also won the Northrop Grumman Supplier Gold Award, we are also HP's top supplier, because we attach great importance to local support, local service the quality of. Secondly, we value very low-end products, such as capacitors used in PCs, game consoles, and mobile phones. We believe that as PCs become more powerful, the demand for capacitors for high-end CPUs will increase. As mentioned above, we are building a factory in Suzhou. It is the production of aluminum polymer electrolytic capacitors for PC applications. In China, our customers include Foxconn, Huawei, ZTE, etc. It can also be seen that our products cover a wide range. In addition, our products also focus on high-end applications, such as the application to Huawei, ZTE's communication equipment, etc. Now many suppliers have relocated their production facilities to China, and even some factories for automotive applications have also relocated to China. There is a demand for products with high quality, high performance and high reliability. Last year, our sales of components in automotive electronics reached 140 million US dollars. The main reason is that major customers such as Bosch have relocated processing to China, and their products are not only for Chinese consumers. , also for global consumers.
Reporter: In addition to applications in mobile phones, PCs, and automobiles, what other applications do you predict will promote the application of passive devices such as capacitors in the future?
Per-Olof Loof: I very much hope that more applications will appear. I think that with the aging of the world and people's increasing awareness of health, medical electronics will have a very good prospect, which will promote the application of more passive components such as capacitors. , In addition, the trend of green energy saving will also increase the demand for capacitors. For example, at present, we hope that in addition to meeting the functional needs of lighting, we should also pay attention to the changes of light, shade and intensity, the change of light color and color, and the object to be illuminated. There are three-dimensional effects, etc., and the lighting equipment must have the characteristics of long life, high efficiency, energy saving, safety, etc. This is where the capacitor can play a role. For example, the electrolytic capacitor inside the electronic ballast will directly affect the ballast. service life. These two trends not only occur in Europe and the United States, but also in China, because China has a large population and consumes a lot of energy. China has become the second largest electricity consumer in the world, and will soon replace the United States as the world's largest electricity consumer. As an electronic consumer country, China has a large number of electronic equipment, such as LCD, MP3 and so on. There is a huge demand for reducing waste and improving efficiency. KEMET is willing to work with Chinese manufacturers to improve China's energy saving to a new level.
Reporter: In terms of application, which capacitor do you think will grow faster in the future?
Per-Olof Loof: I think the demand for MLCCs will increase a lot in the future, because the number and types of consumer electronic products are increasing rapidly, and the number of MLCCs suitable for these products is also increasing significantly. For example, flat-panel TVs may use two or three thousand. MLCC, in addition, there are hundreds of millions of notebooks, PCs, etc. in the world at present, and there is a huge demand for MLCC, so the future space of MLCC is very large, but I think tantalum capacitors also have good prospects in the future, because some applications As we mentioned earlier, medical electronics, green energy-saving industries, military, aerospace, industry, etc. all require high-quality, high-voltage, high-temperature-resistant capacitors, which all require tantalum capacitors, whose low ESR and other characteristics are irreplaceable. of. Even better if scientists can address its cost.
Reporter: How do you view China's capacitor market? What strategy will KEMET adopt for the Chinese market?
Per-Olof Loof: In a word, China's capacitor market is a very competitive and fast-growing market. In this market, there are large communication equipment manufacturers like Huawei and ZTE, and there are also consumer electronics equipment and computer OEMs like Foxconn. EMS, so there is a demand for capacitors everywhere, so our challenge is to supply both the components required by general consumer electronic equipment and the components required for communication equipment, so our office in Shenzhen is the largest, capable of Provide good service to customers. I think China is growing very fast in terms of infrastructure construction. I first came to China in 1995. The changes in China from then to now are amazing and unbelievable. I believe that the Chinese electronics market will perform better in the next few years. The sales in the Chinese market already accounts for 30% of our total sales. We value this market very much. We have moved some R&D forces to Suzhou. In the future, more The R&D force will also be relocated to Suzhou. You know, the closer we are to the customer, the better we can understand the customer's needs, and the customer can get more help from us.
Reporter: How to compete with suppliers in Japan and Taiwan? How does KEMET improve its competitiveness?
John E.Schneider: In the Chinese market, we have to compete with suppliers from Japan and Taiwan. In the future, we will also compete with suppliers from China. Our strategy is to find some niche markets, in which we can do better, we can provide more value to customers, we can also provide what "commodity" products can provide, we do not compete with Murata High-speed MLCC, our MLCC is aimed at high-end applications such as military, medical, automotive, and industrial, which is what we strive to do. One of the characteristics of the Chinese market is that everyone is concerned about low prices. Buyers want to buy cheaper devices, and we want to sell them at a good price. This is always contradictory. Looking for opportunities for cooperation between our prices. You know, for manufacturers, cost is not the only consideration, timely delivery, quality, performance, logistics support are all to consider, their goal is to make good end equipment, so price is not The only factor they consider. In terms of enhancing competitiveness, we focus on R&D investment. We invest huge financial resources every year in the development of device technology, materials and processes, accounting for 5% of annual sales revenue For research and development, many patents related to technology and materials have been applied for.
Reporter: What are the characteristics of passive device applications in the field of automotive electronics? What testing do these devices need? What factors promote the application of passive devices in automotive electronics?
John E.Schneider: High-quality and high-performance passive components are needed in the field of automotive electronics, because automobiles are not ordinary consumer goods, but products related to human life. Take our capacitors as an example, all KEMET capacitors used in automotive electronics must Extremely rigorous reliability testing, burn-in testing in a dedicated automotive environment, must pass AEC-Q200 and EIA standard test, these products are passed ISO/TS Manufactured in the best factories of 16949 standard, some of our capacitor products are used in ABS or airbags, some are used in wire control systems, fuel injection or tire pressure detection, they can withstand high temperature and strong vibration environment. Compared with general passive devices, these devices will also undergo some special tests according to customer needs.
At present, automobiles have become increasingly electronic, and the equipment in automobiles are increasingly digitalized, such as digital instruments, digital entertainment equipment, etc. In addition, the safety requirements of automobiles are also increasing, and the demand for energy saving in automobiles also requires more efficient power systems. These needs are all Driving the growth of high-performance passive devices in automotive electronics applications.
Reporter: Please tell us about your company's experience in participating in the China Hi-Tech Fair? What products will you exhibit at ELEXCON 2008?
John E.Schneider: In China, exhibitions are an effective way to communicate with customers, because the Chinese market is too big and growing rapidly. Our brand is passed on to those visitors, who may be design engineers, manufacturing engineers or purchasing managers. In China, you not only need to provide technology, but also support services, ELEXCON provides us with other ways to contact the Chinese market, and provides more resources. At this year's ELEXCON2008, we will exhibit as many high-performance passive components and some new products as possible, including some of our recently acquired brands, such as EVOX RIFA and ARCOTRONICS etc.
