As the application fields of end products continue to broaden and deepen, the focus of future optical lens design and production technology will be to improve imaging quality, add functions, and reduce size. Specifically, optical lens product technology is showing different characteristics in different application fields. For example, in the field of digital security, with the gradual expansion of the application scope and scenarios of video surveillance technology, and its further extension in the direction of high-definition, networked, and intelligent, lens products are becoming more and more popular in small and lightweight, ultra-high-definition, high-magnification zoom, Technical requirements such as high reliability, ultra-large aperture, fog penetration, wide spectrum, infrared night vision, and optical image stabilization are becoming increasingly prominent.
Optical lenses are generally called camera lenses or photographic lenses, or lenses for short. They are an important branch of the optoelectronics industry and an indispensable component in machine vision systems. They are generally composed of precision hardware, plastic parts, lenses, apertures, drive motors, sensors and other optomechanical components. It consists of device and lens tube.
The optical lens is an important core component of the optical imaging system. Its function is optical imaging. It uses the principle of optical refraction to focus the scene to be photographed onto the film or image sensor chip. The imaging resolution, contrast, various aberrations, etc. Indicators are standards for measuring the quality of optical lenses, affecting the quality of imaging, implementation and effects of algorithms.
Optical lenses are an important part of the optoelectronic industry chain. The upstream industrial chain consists of suppliers of optical raw materials such as optical glass and optical plastics, and suppliers of optical components such as lenses and filters. Downstream are various products that combine optoelectronic technology with video surveillance, artificial intelligence, smart manufacturing, Internet of Things, industrial testing, smart vehicles, laser display and other fields, with a wide range of applications.
Data show that in 2020, the market size of China's optical lens industry was 12.763 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.40%; in 2021, the market size of China's optical lens industry was 14.036 billion yuan, with a compound growth rate of 8.59% in the past five years.
As downstream application fields put forward higher requirements for optical lens technology, local optical lens manufacturers continue to achieve breakthroughs in optical zoom, autofocus, optical anti-shake and other technologies, and in design, image simulation algorithms, optical simulation, high-precision optical molds, It has formed leading advantages in automation process coverage and technology, continuously improved precision manufacturing capabilities, gradually established and consolidated its competitive advantages in the international market, and promoted the local independent development of China's high-end optical lenses.
With the continuous development of social economy and the rapid progress of emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing, the country is paying more and more attention to the development of the security industry. From the large investment in security construction by the government, enterprises and institutions, to the continuous innovation and development of security companies themselves, in the past 20 years, Chinese companies have completed the transformation from foreign agents of security products to the largest product market share in the world. .
Thanks to the huge downstream market demand, low manufacturing costs and the rapid development of technology, the optical lens industry, as an important upstream supply chain for security, has accelerated its transfer to China, and a number of Chinese companies with technology accumulation and production scale have emerged. Optical lens manufacturers gradually replaced the original Japanese suppliers and became an important player in the market. Currently, high-quality service providers in the domestic optical lens industry are constantly seizing industry opportunities and seeking opportunities for development and growth.
In 2021, my country's optical lens output was 3.569 billion units, with imports of 2.063 billion units and exports of 1.729 billion units during the same period. my country's total optical lens demand was 3.903 billion units.
With the rapid development of optoelectronic technology, mobile Internet, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and other technologies, the application range of optical lenses, as important information input ports, has fully penetrated from traditional cameras, optical microscopes, telescopes and other fields to video surveillance, smartphones and other fields. , and continues to expand into popular application fields such as machine vision, autonomous driving, artificial intelligence, biometrics, and the Internet of Things.
Optical lens products have a wide range of application fields, and the industry competition in different subdivided application fields shows different characteristics. In fields such as mobile phone lenses and vehicle cameras, listed companies with a certain scale such as Sunny Optical and Largan Opto occupy the main market share. The market share in the low-end market is relatively low and competition is relatively fierce. In emerging market fields such as video conferencing, aerial drones, and virtual reality, this type of optical lens products have gradually emerged with the development of application technologies such as the Internet and the Internet of Things in recent years. The market is still in the early cultivation stage, and there is no Manufacturers with obvious advantages have low market concentration.
Optical lenses belong to the middle reaches of the optoelectronic industry chain and are the core of manufacturing various optoelectronic products and optical instruments. They have a high technical threshold. Before 2008, the domestic optical lens market was basically monopolized by Japanese and German brands. In recent years, as the manufacturing industry has become increasingly mature, the cost of optical products has gradually reduced. Domestic brands including Sunny Optical, United Optoelectronics, Zhongrun Optical, etc. have gradually emerged. A group of high-quality enterprises have broken the technological monopoly of Japan and Germany.
With the rapid development of emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing in China, as well as the promulgation of digital economy development policies such as the "Guiding Opinions on Strengthening the Construction of Digital Government", the security industry has attracted more and more attention, and optical lenses as digital security As core basic components in other fields, related industries have huge development space and market potential.
Driven by the Internet + and Made in China 2025 strategies, China's optical lenses have integrated with the manufacturing industry through new generation information technology applications such as the Internet and the Internet of Things. The terminal application products of China's optical lenses have shown a mathematical and intelligent development trend, making The application areas of downstream optical lenses have increased. As the technical level of optical lens products improves in fields such as high-magnification zoom, optical image stabilization, and high reliability, optical lens terminal application products will show a trend in the field of intelligence, among which machine vision and AR/VR will be the key players in the future. The main application markets of optical lenses in recent years.