Trend丨Xiaomi, Apple and Samsung are all joining the battle, will titanium become the new mainstream?

Titanium alloy can better combine the characteristics of strength and thinness, thereby reducing the thickness and weight of mobile phones and improving strength. Currently, mainstream 3C manufacturers such as Honor, Apple, and Samsung have begun to introduce it to varying degrees.

The agency pointed out that in the future, if it is further gradually penetrated into various 3C consumer electronics brands and product types (mobile phones - watches - Pads - laptops), the growth space is expected to continue to open up.

Titanium alloy refers to an alloy based on titanium and added with other elements. It is an important structural metal developed in the 1950s.

Compared with previous stainless steel and aluminum alloy materials, titanium alloy can better combine the characteristics of strength and thinness, thereby reducing the thickness and weight of mobile phones and improving strength.

ReportLinker data shows that the global titanium metal market has a CAGR of approximately 5% in the past five years, and the market size is expected to reach approximately US$6.6 billion by the end of 2026, while the smartphone market is expected to become an important area for titanium metal applications.

Debon Securities predicts that the application of titanium alloy materials in smartphone manufacturing will further expand, driving the growth of the titanium metal market.

Compared with other common metal materials, titanium mining and production costs are high, making the final product more expensive. At the same time, it is also limited by processing difficulty and industry maturity. Titanium metal is more used in aerospace, military industry and other fields.

Looking back at the development of the iPhone in the past, the reason for using titanium is actually very simple. In the past, starting from the iPhone X, the iPhone's "big cup" flagships were all made of surgical-grade stainless steel.

Compared with the aluminum alloy material in the past, this material has been further improved in terms of texture and strength. It is very "distinguished" in the hand. It is also used in iPhones. Many high-end Android flagships have chosen to follow suit and give themselves The flagship is made of stainless steel.

It’s just that no one may have expected that in just a few years, mobile phone flagships have all focused on imaging experience, which has resulted in the imaging modules on mobile phones being large and heavy. Today’s flagship mobile phones are often about “half a catty” , which greatly affects the feel and experience.

Since the lens module and battery cannot be shrunk at will, we can only start with the body material. Therefore, designers urgently need to find a substitute for the stainless steel frame, and titanium metal has become the best choice.

It should be noted that this is not the first time that titanium has appeared on mobile phones. The 8848 mobile phone with very brainwashing advertisements used titanium body as its selling point. However, the high price and slightly earthy advertisements made it more popular. It has not become mainstream.

The Honor Magic V2 folding screen mobile phone launched in July this year, its folding hinge is also made of titanium alloy, which makes it have very good anti-fall performance. At the same time, it has become the lightest and thinnest folding screen mobile phone.

Even Apple is not the first to try titanium. The previous Apple Watch Ultra used a titanium casing, which made it weigh as much as stainless steel even with a larger screen, battery, and more sensors. Pretty much the same as a regular Apple Watch.

At the same time, judging from user feedback, the Apple Watch Ultra made of titanium is better than the ordinary Apple Watch in terms of resistance to drops and scratches. This makes it logical for the iPhone 15 Pro series to use titanium.

According to the parameters on the official website, the weight of the iPhone 15 Pro is 187g, which is 19g lighter than the previous generation, while the weight of the titanium version of Xiaomi Mi 14 Pro is 230g, which is 7g heavier than the ordinary version. The results of the two are completely different, which naturally leads to doubts.

What is certain is that titanium alloy is indeed heavier than mainstream aluminum alloy. After querying the data, we can find that the specific gravity of aluminum alloy is about 2.7, while the specific gravity of titanium alloy is about 4.4-4.5. In the case of the same volume, titanium alloy is obviously heavier.

So why has the iPhone 15 Pro lost so much weight? The iPhone 14 Pro mainly uses stainless steel frames. Generally, the specific gravity of stainless steel is between 7.6-8, which is much heavier than titanium alloy and aluminum alloy. So it is not that titanium alloy will reduce weight, but that the original Apple is a bit "too heavy" Yes, the frame can be made much lighter by changing any material.

In addition, the aluminum alloy of the iPhone is only reflected in the frame part, and the back cover of the fuselage is still made of ordinary glass material, while Xiaomi’s titanium alloy version fills the frame and back panel parts, which can only increase the weight by 7g. A very good result.

Although everyone knows that titanium alloy has higher hardness, it does not mean that its drop resistance is stronger than that of aluminum alloy and stainless steel. The higher hardness means that its shock absorption effect will be greatly reduced. When the mobile phone falls, it will be directly transmitted to the Internal components make the screen and back cover more fragile.

Although both Apple and Xiaomi use ultra-high-strength screen glass, don't have high expectations for the phone's drop resistance, otherwise the repair cost will be far beyond your imagination.

Applying titanium metal to mobile phones is not a particularly good choice. It is not so much a new material, but a new marketing method that allows consumers to feel the so-called "innovation", which is very successful. Marketing plan.

According to relevant data, global titanium ore production in 2022 will be approximately 8.673 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 4.9%. my country's titanium ore production in 2022 will reach 3.144 million tons, accounting for 36% of global production, a year-on-year increase of 10.05%.

The two major fields of chemical industry and aerospace account for 73% of the demand for titanium processing materials, and the demand share has continued to increase in recent years. It is expected that the demand share of the consumer electronics field is expected to increase significantly starting from 2023, reaching 12% in 2025.

What is certain is that the successful promotion of Apple and Xiaomi will make titanium alloy materials the next "blue ocean market", so stay tuned for future developments.

The content comes from: Lei Technology: Xiaomi, Apple, and Samsung are all joining the battle, and the mobile phone industry has entered the "titanium" era; Titanium Media: "Titanium", which has been popularized by the iPhone, is quickly becoming popular; what is the future development trend of titanium alloys?

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