Ultra-thin Capacitor Film: Future Growth in The Film Capacitor Market

NO.1 Preface
Film capacitors, also known as plastic film capacitors, as basic electronic components, are widely used in home appliances, communications, power grids, rail transportation, industrial control, lighting, and new energy (photovoltaic, wind, automotive) and many other industries. They are found in almost all electronic circuits and play an indispensable role.

NO.2 Ultra-thin Capacitor Film Exploration
Ultra-thin capacitor film, as an important part of film capacitors, is usually micrometer thick. This film material has excellent insulating properties and stability, and can maintain excellent electrical performance in harsh environments such as high temperature and high humidity. Its manufacturing process is complex, but widely used, for improving the performance and reliability of electronic products is of great significance.
In recent years, with the increasing national support for the electronic components industry, China's film capacitor market has shown strong growth momentum. Under the impetus of the policy, the market size of film capacitors in 2023 has approached the 30 billion yuan mark, and the year-on-year growth rate is as high as 36.36%, and the share of the capacitor market as a whole has also been raised to about 23%, which has become a key force to promote the development of the industry.

Capacitor products can be classified into ceramic capacitors, aluminum electrolytic capacitors, tantalum electrolytic capacitors, and film capacitors depending on the material. Each type of capacitor is adapted to specific application scenarios due to its unique properties. Film capacitors, with their excellent high temperature and high voltage resistance, high reliability, and long life and over-voltage self-healing capabilities, play a crucial role in electric drive systems for new energy vehicles, OBCs, charging piles, as well as inverters and converters for photovoltaic and wind power, and other inverters and converters for inverters and converters, for both inverters and converters for both AC and DC converters. Within this field, industry leaders such as Farah Electronics, Eagle Peak Electronics, Jianghai Corporation and Tongfeng Electronics stand out.

The main raw materials of film capacitors cover base film (polypropylene film PP and polyester film PET mainly), metal foil, outer packaging resin, non-ferrous metal, and lead wires and lead sheets. Among these materials, capacitor film, as the core material of film capacitors, occupies about 70% of the total cost of raw materials. The quality of capacitor film has a direct impact on the performance of the capacitor, which is related to its capacity stability, voltage resistance, insulation resistance, safety and life and other core indicators.

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Plastics Market Overview

Film capacitors are increasingly used in the plastics market. One of its key raw materials, capacitor film, as the core component of film capacitors, has a crucial impact on the performance of capacitors. The quality of the film directly determines the capacitor's capacity stability, voltage resistance, insulation resistance and service life. Therefore, in the plastic market, high quality capacitor film has become a key factor for film capacitor manufacturers to pursue.

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NO.3 Exploring the potential of ultra-thin capacitor films
With the increasing demand for film capacitors in the plastics market, its key raw material, capacitor film, has also received more and more attention. Among them, ultra-thin capacitor film has shown great potential in the market with its unique performance advantages. Ultra-thin capacitor film not only has excellent electrical properties, but also can effectively improve the capacitor's capacity stability, voltage resistance and service life. Therefore, ultra-thin capacitor film has become an indispensable choice for manufacturers seeking high-quality film capacitors.
Once the capacitor film is made, film capacitor manufacturers perform a series of subsequent processes and sell it to downstream customers. These processes include vaporization and slitting, winding and packaging, and capping and testing, each of which is critical because it directly affects the performance of the product. This is especially true of the vapor deposition process for metallic films, which has a direct impact on the thickness and crystallinity of the capacitor film, which in turn determines the key parameters of the capacitor. In order to achieve ultra-thin electronic films, capacitor manufacturers are constantly striving to reduce product size and lower production costs.

Therefore, ultra-thin and temperature resistance have become two key technology trends in the industry. Ultra-thin capacitor film plays an indispensable role in many fields such as new energy, and its raw material is usually PP. with the booming development of the new energy industry, the demand for ultra-thin capacitor film has risen sharply, and there is even an oversupply in the market. It should be noted that the thickness of ultra-thin capacitor film used in the new energy field is concentrated in 2-4 microns, while the thickness of ordinary capacitor film is 6-8 microns. The rapid growth of new energy automobile, photovoltaic and wind power industries has further boosted the demand for ultra-thin capacitor film market. However, at the same time, the production of ultra-thin film puts forward extremely high requirements for product quality and production stability, coupled with the global shortage of equipment supply, Chinese manufacturers face considerable challenges in the production process, and the domestic market is therefore the existence of a certain supply gap.

Film capacitors play an indispensable role in many fields, including electronics, home appliances, power communications, electrified railroads and automobiles. Especially in the field of new energy, has become the core driving force for the future development of film capacitors. Currently, its market demand is growing rapidly, mainly due to the promotion of two major areas: first, the rapid development of the new energy automotive industry, and second, the widespread popularization and application of wind power and photovoltaic power generation. According to the authoritative forecast of the Foresight Industry Research Institute, the global penetration rate of electric vehicles is expected to rise significantly to 23% by 2025 and further climb to 67% by 2040. As the new energy vehicle industry continues to prosper, the demand for film capacitors, a key component in the electrification process, will also rise and continue to benefit.

Film capacitors play a crucial role in the electrification of new energy vehicles. Film capacitors are an indispensable component in the construction of electric drive systems for purely electric new energy vehicles. Especially for high-end pure electric vehicles, due to its dual-motor design, each vehicle even needs to be equipped with two film capacitors to meet its high performance needs. In addition, film capacitors are also indispensable for hybrid electric vehicles, which also require two such capacitors to ensure efficient operation. From the practical application level of new energy vehicles, film capacitors play an important role in core components such as on-board inverters, on-board chargers (OBCs) and charging piles. Meanwhile, film capacitors have also demonstrated their wide application potential in high-voltage electrical units such as battery management systems (BMS), electronic control systems, and DC-DC switching power supplies.

Globally, Toyota, a leader in the hybrid car industry, has been using film capacitors to replace traditional electrolytic capacitors since the second generation of Prius; similarly, Tesla Model 3 has also followed this trend and chosen film capacitors. In addition, in China's new energy vehicle market, BYD, a leading company, has adopted film capacitor technology in its Qin, Tang and E6 models. Looking ahead, with the continuous development of the new energy automobile market and the increasing penetration rate, the market demand for film capacitors will show a steady growth trend.
Plastic Market
With the popularization of hybrid cars and new energy vehicles, the market demand for film capacitors continues to rise, which in turn drives the prosperity of the plastics market. As key electronic components, film capacitors have a huge demand for plastic materials in their production process. As a result, the plastics market has benefited from this industry trend, showing continued growth.

NO.4 Capacitive film industry trend outlook
With the rapid development of hybrid vehicles and new energy vehicles, the film capacitor market continues to expand, which in turn promotes the prosperity of the capacitive film industry. As a key raw material for the production of film capacitors, capacitor film is in constant demand, signaling that the industry will usher in a broader space for development in the future. In the future, China's film capacitor industry will usher in a critical period of transformation, focusing on technical services and brand building, with the goal of pursuing higher quality development. By expanding domestic and foreign markets, the industry is expected to gain a broader space for development.