China (mainland) – Weifang is now the largest hub for microphone products in mainland China, and third in the world—with a wide range of acoustic components and finished products on offer. Popular export quality electroacoustic products include CMOS MEMS and ECM microphones—as well as Bluetooth headsets, micro speakers and micro receivers. These, in turn, are applied to mobile phones, walkie-talkies, telephones, PCs, MP3s, automotive communication products. A new electroacoustic industrial park in the Hi-Tech Zone of Weifang was inaugurated last year, reinforcing the city’s status as mainland China’s largest production center for electroacoustic components. Companies such as Samsung, LG, Motorola, Nokia, Panasonic, NEC, and Lenovo are just some of the companies getting their products from Weifang. Weifang is Shandong province’s fourth biggest industrial centre. From the year 2000 to 2007, the number of electroacoustic component makers has surged from 2 to 20, forming the base for a production hub led by companies such as GoerTek (Weifang), Weifang Gongda Telecommunications Co., Ltd, Knowles Electronics (Weifang), Weifang Haili Electronic Co., Ltd and Weifang NAC Electric Co., Ltd. Total annual sales also skyrocketed from 40 million units to 450 million units during this period, while revenues rose from $3.75 million to $131.58, or one-fifth of total IT industry revenue in Weifang. The city’s local government set up a special $25 million development fund in 2006 to improve the R&D capability of the local makers. Big players like GoerTek and Weifang Gongda have established their own R&D centers. Goertek works with China Academy of Science and with the the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications in a joint laboratory project. Weifang Gongda’s R&D facility operates at the provincial level. The company has been making ECM microphones since 1995 and is capable of delivering 20 million array microphones a month. Big customers include Siemens, Matsushita, Alcatel, Sharp, Logitech, and UT Starcom. According to the Chinese Electronic Components Association, the global of electroacoustic components industry is growing at 10 percent a year and become a market worth $24.3 billion by 2010. China’s own market will be worth $9.2 billion by then.
Weifang Gongda carries ISO14001 and OHSMS18001 certification and has technology partnerships with the Chinese
Academy of Science, Shandong
University, Fudan
University, Nanjing
University and MWM Acoustics. Its R&D program is focused on size, high working temperature and Bluetooth applications. CMOS MEMS are in production since 2008, and are estimated $8 million USD sales in 2009. |