Antenna market segment analysis of 5G industry chain

　　The application of the antenna includes the base station side and the terminal side. Regardless of the base station or the terminal, the antenna is a middleware for signal transmission and reception. The quality of the antenna performance directly affects the quality of communication. The mobile phone terminal antenna is used to send and receive radio waves, and is connected to the RF front-end. It is the starting point of the receiving channel and the end point of the transmitting channel. The base station antenna is similar to the terminal antenna and is also a signal converter, but the base station antenna connects the base station equipment and the end user.

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　　Young people may not be familiar with antennas, but older friends are not unfamiliar with it. The antennas of the "big brother" mobile phones that were popular all over the country were exposed and extended for a long time. With progress, the antenna is getting shorter and shorter, and finally it is hidden directly inside the phone, so we can't see the antenna of the phone now, but it has always been there.

　　According to the "Daily Financial Report" statistics, in 2013-2014, when 4G construction started, the domestic antenna market grew rapidly, and in 2020-2021, when 5G is coming, this growth elasticity will be further amplified. Judging from the current development situation, the number of 5G base stations will be 1.5-2 times that of 4G, and the single value of 5G base station antennas will be 3-4 times that of 4G. With the superposition of the two, the total size of antennas in the 5G period will be 4G. 4.5-8 times of that, corresponding to the global market of RMB 500-900 billion, taking the median value of RMB 700 billion.

　　5G era antenna market expands

　　There are two reasons for the high growth of antennas in the 5G era: the increase in the penetration rate of 5G mobile phones and the increase in the number of antennas brought about by the increase in 5G frequency bands, corresponding to terminal antennas and base station antennas respectively. According to the forecast of Bcc research, the global antenna market size will be 22.5 billion US dollars in 2021, and the smart antenna market size will be 7.6 billion US dollars; and according to Yole Development's forecast, the terminal antenna market space will increase from 2.23 billion US dollars in 2018 to 2022. 3.08 billion US dollars, with a compound growth rate of 8.4%.

　　The rise in volume and price is the fundamental reason why the scale of antenna investment in the 5G era will increase significantly compared to the 4G era.

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　　In terms of antenna characteristics of 5G base stations, the number of 5G antenna channels will be increased compared to 4G. In the 4G period, 4 channels are the main channels, and in the 5G period, it will be expanded to 64 channels. The AAU equipment in the 5G macro base station is suitable for the IF frequency band and the millimeter wave frequency band. In the Sub-6G frequency band, the AAU equipment includes three types: 64T64R, 32T32R, and 16T16R. The 64T64R AAU equipment has 64 transceiver channels, which are mostly deployed in dense urban areas and other 5G data In the hotspot area, the rest areas use 32 transceiver channels or 16 transceiver channels.

　　In addition, the 5G base station antenna needs to meet the characteristics of high-frequency, high-speed and large-traffic transmission. The process difficulty and antenna material are improved, and the value of the single antenna is increased. The cost of the 4G base station antenna is about 800-1000 yuan per pair, and the cost of the 5G base station antenna is expected to be 3000-4000 yuan. Yuan/Vice. The simultaneous increase in the number of 5G base stations and the individual value of 5G base station antennas will boost the investment scale of 5G base station antennas.

　　As of the end of 2019, the number of 4G base stations reached 5.44 million, accounting for 64.7% of the total number of base stations; the number of 5G base stations in my country exceeded 130,000, and the market expects that the number of 5G base stations in my country will be around 700,000 in 2020. The epidemic has led to the release of global 5G construction. Slowly, 2021 will be the peak year of 5G base station construction.

　　At the terminal level, the increase in the functions of 5G mobile phones has led to an increase in the number of internal functional modules in mobile phones. In addition, the increase in mobile phone applications has greatly increased the power consumption of 5G mobile phones. In order to meet daily needs, the battery size must be expanded, but the overall size of the mobile phone is limited. Therefore, the internal space is limited. How to achieve a reasonable layout is a major problem for 5G mobile phones.

　　In order to coordinate with the rationalization of 5G mobile phone design, the design and layout of internal antennas are more difficult and the preparation complexity is increased. At the same time, the trend of internal module integration is becoming more and more clear, and the value of the internal antennas of mobile phones will naturally increase. On the other hand, the number of antennas carried by 5G mobile phones will also increase significantly. The number of 4G mobile phone antennas is 2-4, including 2 communication antennas, 1 Wifi antenna, and 1 GPS antenna. The number of 5G mobile phone antennas is expected to be 8-10, including 2 4G communication antennas, 4 5G communication antennas, 2 Wifi antennas, 1 GPS antenna, etc.

　　Domestic antenna manufacturers

　　Before 2G, my country's base station antenna industry was almost blank, the base station construction was almost 100% dependent on imports, and the unit price of the antenna was relatively high. In May 2000, the Ministry of Information Industry issued the "Technical Conditions for Base Station Antennas of Mobile Communication Systems", marking the real start of my country's base station antenna industry. Then China's base station antenna industry entered a period of domestic substitution. From 2002 to 2004, some provincial operators tried to unpack and purchase antennas, and domestic antennas began to gain a little market, but the proportion was only single digits.

　　Since 2005, the antenna equipment of the three major operators has been unpacked and purchased nationwide, and China's base station antenna industry has begun to develop rapidly. By 2009, the market share of domestic antennas in the domestic market exceeded 85%, but the global base station antenna market is still Occupied by German Katherine and American CommScope Andrews with a market share of up to 79%, patent barriers have seriously hindered the entry of domestic antennas into the international market. After breaking the patent barriers in the following years, China's base station antenna industry has developed rapidly, and the global market share of Chinese antenna manufacturers' shipments has reached more than 60%, becoming a veritable base station antenna power.

　　The "Daily Financial Report" learned that in the field of base station antennas, domestic companies represented by Huawei have obvious market advantages. According to a report released by EJL Wireless Research, the top companies in the global base station antenna market share are Huawei (32%), Comba (13%), CommScope (12%), Mobi Development (8%), Ace (8%), Tongyu Communication (7%), Kathleen (5%), etc.

　　The competition for 5G antennas has just begun. In the later stage of 5G construction, millimeter-wave antennas that are different from the existing 5G frequency bands will appear. The millimeter-wave frequency bands here refer to 24GHz to 52GHz, while the existing 5G frequency bands are below 6GHz. There will still be new solutions, and the test of enterprises may not be temporary leadership, but long-term research and development capabilities, but from the current situation, Huawei's leading position is difficult to shake.

　　The market share of Chinese enterprises in the terminal antenna market is better than that of radio frequency devices. Xinwei Communication, Sobeide, and Luxshare Precision all occupy a certain proportion of the market share.

　　Luxshare Precision Terminal Antenna has three business modules: traditional antenna, LCP antenna and LTCC process. LCP antenna module products are provided to North American customers. Xinwei Communication is mainly engaged in the business of radio frequency components, including antennas for mobile terminals and base stations, wireless charging modules, EMCEMI devices, connectors, etc. At present, it has the design and manufacturing capabilities of LCP, MPI and other flexible transmission line products, and is accelerating For production capacity construction, the company's LCP transmission line products have also been used in the connection between Qualcomm's 5G baseband chips and 5G millimeter-wave antenna modules. The industrial structure of Sobeide is more complete, and its antenna business includes terminal antennas, base station antennas and vehicle-mounted antennas. Among them, the terminal antenna is the company's largest profit contribution product, mainly including mobile phone antennas, laptop antennas and wearable device antennas.

　　However, it is also necessary to objectively realize that in the production of high-end technology terminal antennas, American manufacturer Amphenol and Japanese manufacturer Murata are still ahead. Amphenol's LCP antenna module has entered the Apple mobile phone industry chain, accounting for about 65% of the supplier share in 2018; Murata's LCP antenna used to supply iPhone X, and has achieved commercialization in millimeter-wave antenna modules.

　　After the epidemic subsides, the 5G construction in 2020 will be accelerated, and the proposal of "new infrastructure" will push the 5G infrastructure to a peak. According to Gartner, global 5G infrastructure revenue in 2020 will grow 89% from $2.2 billion in 2019 to $6.8 billion in 2021. Therefore, according to the "Daily Financial Report", as a deterministically heavy component in the 5G industry chain, antenna manufacturers are expected to reach peak performance in the past two years.