The wave of intelligent manufacturing is sweeping across this optical giant. Why is it able to stand out?

After the Spring Festival, "Made in China" ushered in good news. On March 1, data released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology showed that my country's industrial added value reached 31.31 trillion yuan in 2020, ranking first in the world for 11 consecutive years. The proportion of manufacturing industry in the world's manufacturing industry is close to 30%.

Despite the impact of the global epidemic on my country's economic development, my country's manufacturing industry has still delivered excellent results. Some manufacturing companies have even turned the tide. Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the China Federation of Industrial Economics jointly announced the fifth batch of national manufacturing single champion companies. Only 90 companies were selected nationwide. OFILM was on the list and won the title of national manufacturing single champion demonstration enterprise, becoming a listed company in the optical imaging industry.

What is OFILM's secret to success during the epidemic?

The prospects of "smart manufacturing" are broad

Looking back at 2020, the epidemic has brought challenges to the production and operation of manufacturing companies. A follow-up survey by the China Enterprise Reform and Development Research Association shows that nearly 60% of companies believe that the epidemic has had a significant impact on their production and operation, causing operational difficulties for their companies, and industries such as tourism, catering, and aviation have suffered heavy losses.

The epidemic has accelerated the market reshuffle and the upgrading of automation and intelligence in the manufacturing industry. Production in many countries and regions with severe epidemics has been hampered, and the global supply chain has been broken. In order to reduce the impact of labor shortages on industrial production, it is necessary to further increase investment in industrial informatization and digitalization. Many manufacturing companies have increased the proportion of "intelligent manufacturing" in industrial production to maintain effective supply in times of crisis.

While many manufacturing companies are facing the test of intelligent transformation, OFILM has already handed in a brilliant "answer sheet". According to the 2020 performance report recently released by OFILM (002456.SZ), the company's operating profit in 2020 was 1.103 billion yuan, an increase of 67.90% over the same period last year; the total profit was 1.065 billion yuan, an increase of 62.06% over the same period last year; the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 881 million yuan, an increase of 72.70% over the same period last year.

How to do manufacturing in the "post-epidemic era"? This optical lens company has given the answer. According to media reports, OFILM has strengthened cost control and inventory management, increased R&D and mass production of high-end products, maintained rapid growth in optical imaging business, and continuously optimized the structure of touch business. In addition, the increase in orders from some major customers, the growth in tablet computer sales, and the independent development of Android touch business have achieved overall profit growth.

According to the financial news from Tonghuashun, the current automation rate of OFILM's camera module production has reached 100%, and the shipment volume of camera modules has been ranked among the top in the world for many years since 2016. In the global mobile phone module market in 2019, OFILM's market share was 13%, ranking first in the world. In the first three quarters of 2020, OFILM's camera module shipments reached 553 million units, a year-on-year increase of 21.81%; the shipment volume in the third quarter was close to the sum of the shipment volumes in the first and second quarters; the shipment volume of lenses reached 132 million units, a year-on-year increase of 29.28%, and the shipment volume of 3D modules reached 79 million units, a year-on-year increase of 38.96%.

In addition, with the continuous penetration of 5G mobile phones around the world, companies in the industry chain represented by OFILM will bring unlimited possibilities to the mobile phone industry. According to data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, in January, 27.278 million 5G mobile phones were shipped in the domestic market, accounting for 68.0% of mobile phone shipments in the same period. Market research firm Gartner predicts that global smartphone sales will increase by 11.4% in 2021 to 1.5 billion units, of which global 5G mobile phone sales will reach 539 million units. The market has ushered in a wave of 5G mobile phone replacement, and the component market has great potential.

The optical track has great growth potential

Data shows that optical lenses are the core components of optical imaging systems and play a key role in image quality. In recent years, with the rapid development of technologies such as mobile Internet, Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence, the application fields of optical lenses have been further enriched, and fields such as autonomous driving, smart home, VR/AR equipment, drones, and 3DSensing have emerged in an endless stream, injecting new impetus into the development of the optical lens industry.

As a global leader in technological innovation and intelligent manufacturing, OFILM has been deeply engaged in optics and optoelectronics for nearly 20 years. OFILM's technological reserves in imaging modules, optical lenses, and microelectronic products are among the best in the industry.

With the advent of the 5G era, people have higher requirements for high pixels, large apertures, and light weight of smartphones, and optics has become one of the main battlefields for mobile terminal manufacturers. In November 2020, OFILM successfully developed a 100-megapixel 7P lens, breaking through the technical barriers of high-end lenses and reaching the highest level in the industry. It is expected that non-flagship models will stabilize on the three-camera solution in 2021, and the penetration rate of three-camera will further increase; periscope lenses and TOF lenses will also be introduced one after another. In addition, the lens business is rapidly increasing in volume and is expected to become a new growth driver.

On the other hand, due to the booming development of the automotive intelligence wave, OFILM has also begun to layout the intelligent vehicle business as an important strategic plan of the company, and strives to use optical technology to promote the intelligent process of the automotive industry. In 2015, OFILM announced its entry into the field of intelligent vehicles, and has completed the layout of three major branches in the field of intelligent vehicles: intelligent central control, ADAS, and body electronics. Its products include gateways, body domain controllers, digital instruments, electronic streaming media, ADAS cameras, millimeter wave radars, etc.

According to data released by Gaogong Intelligent Automobile Research Institute, OFILM has obtained the qualification certification of more than 20 domestic automobile manufacturers and started shipping, and has successively received project orders for panoramic camera assemblies and panoramic controller assemblies from the top five domestic car manufacturers. In 2019, OFILM has ranked among the top ten in the domestic prospective surround view mass production market share, and this year it was selected as the TOP100 360 panoramic surround view suppliers in 2020.

In addition, the application of 3D sensing technology in various fields has begun to penetrate, which has become the main axis of the next stage of innovation in optics and has brought greater market space to the industry chain. The application of 3D sensing technology is mainly in smartphones and AR glasses, and can also be applied to human-computer interaction, smart homes, robots, automatic driving assistance and other fields. In 2017, OFILM began to get involved in the 3D sensing field, developing structured light solutions and TOF solutions, with nearly 200 patents, and was the first to realize the mass production of structured light 3D sensing modules and 3D TOF modules. It is currently the main supplier of 3D sensing modules in China.

In addition to smartphones, OFILM's products also cover smart homes, logistics, security and other fields. Although it has become a leading company in the field of optics, OFILM still focuses on innovation and continues to increase its R&D investment. It is understood that OFILM invests 5% of its operating income in R&D every year, and its R&D investment has increased year by year. In April 2020, OFILM officially established the Central Research Institute to accelerate the creation of an international innovative enterprise. While focusing on its main business, OFILM still insists on exploring new possibilities in the field of intelligent manufacturing, allowing China's "smart" manufacturing to go global.