Machinery / Industrial Parts & Tools

In the workshop of Ningbo Jinxin Bearing Technology Co., Ltd., located in Haishu District, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, turning, rough grinding, fine grinding, sleeve fitting, cleaning... After more than 20 processes, one by one bearing less than the size of nail cover is coming off the production line of the company. Import and export data shows that in the first quarter of this year, the output value of Jinxin Bearing exceeded 13 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of nearly 10%. At present, the company is stepping up efforts to restrict orders for 2.2 million sets of micro bearings, of which 60% will be exported abroad.

This is just a microcosm of China's increasingly thriving micro bearing production enterprises. Bearings are the components that carry the shaft and are referred to as "mechanical joints". Among them, rolling bearings with a nominal outer diameter size D ≤ 26mm are referred to as micro bearings. Micro bearings, as important basic industrial products, are widely used in fields such as automobiles, machine tools, precision instruments, ships, aircraft, computers, aerospace, robots, etc. With the prosperity of China's manufacturing industry, the micro bearing market is entering a fast lane of development.

The demand is still the highest in the world, and the high-end market still needs to make efforts

According to import and export data, the global micro bearing market (with outer diameter sizes of 26mm and below) was $2.49 billion in 2021. It is expected that the global micro bearing market will reach $2.97 billion by 2026, with a compound annual growth rate of 3.6%.

According to import and export data, from 2012 to 2021, China's industrial added value increased from 20.9 trillion yuan to 37.3 trillion yuan, of which the manufacturing added value increased from 16.98 trillion yuan to 31.4 trillion yuan. Among all the industrial categories listed in the United Nations Industrial Classification, China has produced over 220 industrial products that rank first in the world, especially automotive, household appliances, and consumer electronics products, all of which widely use micro bearings as basic mechanical components. Against the backdrop of vigorously developing the manufacturing industry, China has become the world's largest demand country for micro bearings. In 2021, the Chinese micro bearing market (with an outer diameter of 26mm and below) was 12.36 billion yuan. It is expected that by 2026, the size of China's micro bearing market will reach 15.39 billion yuan, and the compound annual growth rate is expected to reach 4.5% between 2022 and 2026.

The main downstream applications of micro bearings include automobiles, household appliances, equipment manufacturing, medical devices, consumer electronics, etc. According to the import and export data, household appliances are the largest application market of miniature bearings in China, accounting for 28.0% of the overall market share. The rapid growth of the Small appliance market in recent years is the main force driving the growth of the bearing market. In addition, as China becomes the world's largest producer and consumer of new energy vehicles, driven by technologies such as thermal management systems, autonomous driving, and intelligent cabins, the number of onboard micro motors has maintained a rapid growth trend, driving continuous demand for micro bearings.

Ultra micro bearings are mainly used in industrial robots, precision machine tools, electric medical devices, high-speed hair dryers, high-speed vacuum cleaners, and other fields. Driven by the intelligent and miniaturized development of micro and special motors, micro bearings have become the fastest-growing field in the micro bearing market. According to import and export data, the market size of China's ultra micro bearings (with an outer diameter of 9mm and below) was 5.28 billion yuan in 2021. It is expected that the market size of China's ultra micro bearings will reach 7.02 billion yuan in 2026, with a compound annual growth rate of 5.9%.

Although the demand is the highest globally, further efforts are still needed in the high-end market. The micro bearing market can be divided into high, medium, and low markets based on factors such as application field, product performance, and product unit price. From a global perspective, Japan is the country with the strongest technological capabilities in micro bearings worldwide. Among them, Japanese enterprises MinebeaMitsumi and NSK occupy a leading position in the market.

At present, local manufacturers are mostly concentrated in the production and manufacturing of low and medium grade micro bearings; The high-end micro bearing market is mostly dominated by multinational large bearing groups, whose products are mainly used in fields such as automobiles and advanced mechanical equipment.

Local micro bearing enterprises in China have maintained a rapid growth trend in market share in fields such as household appliances, electric tools, and consumer electronics. They have started to develop special micro bearings for high-end product markets and gradually gained applications in high-end fields such as automobiles, medical devices, precision machine tools, and industrial robots.

Having multiple advantages and broad prospects for industry development

The trend of miniaturization and intelligence of micro and special motors drives the miniaturization of the bearing industry. Micro bearings are widely used in the field of micro and special motors and are key components that affect the operating life, speed, reliability, and noise of micro and special motors. Public data shows that China is the world's largest producer of micro and special motors, accounting for over 70% of global production. Driven by the high efficiency, energy conservation, and miniaturization of micro and special motors, over 60% of micro and special motors using bearings use micro bearings.

Secondly, small batch, customized high-end downstream applications have become the driving force for local enterprises. Micro bearings, as core basic components, are indispensable products in China's industrial system. In the category of micro bearing products, there are both low investment and labor-intensive low and mid range micro bearings; There are also high-tech intensive high-end micro bearing products that combine advanced manufacturing technology, emerging electronic technology, and new material technology. At present, the pace of China's economic restructuring is accelerating, and the demand for micro bearings in high-end downstream applications such as electric medical devices, semiconductor equipment, and industrial robots has significantly increased. The demand usually presents characteristics such as customization and small batch production. With the progress of China's high-end metallurgical technology, bearing steel refining process, bearing processing and testing technology, and high-end production equipment for bearings, domestic high-quality bearing manufacturers have begun to move towards the high-end micro bearing market characterized by small batches, high performance, customization, and high gross profit. High end micro bearings have gradually become an important driving force for local enterprises.

Create industry development momentum for the rapid development of the automotive industry and the improvement of electrification rate. The automotive industry is one of the important downstream applications of micro bearings. The development of the automotive industry, especially the new energy vehicle industry, is highly correlated with the development of China's micro bearing industry. In traditional fuel vehicle structures, micro bearings are used in components such as wipers, air conditioning, and rearview mirrors; However, the overall electrification rate of new energy vehicles is significantly higher than that of traditional fuel vehicles. The consumption of micro and special motors has increased significantly, and the demand for micro bearings, the basic component of motors, has increased significantly. At present, China's automotive industry is facing the transformation and upgrading of green and electrification. New energy vehicles have become the direction of future automotive industry development, and traditional power systems will gradually be replaced by drive motors, power batteries, and controllers. It is expected that by 2025, the sales of new energy passenger vehicles are expected to reach 15 million units, with a penetration rate of 56%.

In addition, with the rapid development of China's economy, the increase in per capita disposable income and urbanization rate, the automotive industry as a whole has shown a development trend of both supply and demand. From the perspective of the automotive manufacturing industry chain, the automation and intelligent upgrading of upstream manufacturing equipment provide technical support, and automated production equipment such as industrial robots and CNC machine tools are gradually being widely used in the automotive manufacturing process. As an important basic component of robot servo motors and machine tool servo motors, micro bearings have received good market development opportunities.

The prosperity of emerging application fields has created new impetus for the development of the micro bearing market. With the development of technology, emerging fields such as intelligent driving perception, intelligent cockpit, and household robots have maintained a rapid development trend, and will become a new driving force for the development of the micro bearing industry in the future.

Taking intelligent driving perception technology as an example, the servo motor in LiDAR is a major emerging application scenario for micro bearings. In the current hot field of photovoltaic power generation, the participation of micro bearings is also needed. If the temperature of the Solar inverter is too high, it is easy to shorten its reliability and service life. Therefore, a cooling fan is needed to assist in cooling, and the micro bearing is an indispensable basic component in the fan motor. In addition, home intelligent robots, new automation equipment (such as Robotic arm, industrial robots) and other industries are developing in full swing, which further increases the market demand for micro bearings. (Translated from: China Industry Daily)