As one of the three core components of the camera module (image sensor, lens, and voice coil motor), the VCM motor market will continue to expand in 2021. It is expected that the global market share will reach 3.2 billion US dollars, and the shipment volume is expected to exceed 3 billion.

VCM, the voice coil motor in electronics, is a type of motor. The main principle is to use a permanent magnetic field to control the position of the shrapnel or mover by changing the size of the coil current in the motor, and drive the lens to move, so as to realize the lens. of autofocus.

According to the structure, VCM motors are mainly divided into shrapnel type, ball type and friction type. The structure of VCM motors of different manufacturers is different. At present, the VCM motor with the shrapnel structure is widely used on the market, and the friction structure is used less. The main manufacturer of the ball type is Samsung Motor. Except for a small number of mobile phone terminal brands in China In our own electronic products, due to the structure of the ball, the lens may lag and the image cannot be processed in time.

According to the function, it can be divided into open-loop motor, closed-loop motor, optical anti-shake motor (OIS) and six-axis motor (OIS + closed-loop). For example, this 7.5*7.5*4.1 small size VCM motor, this motor is not only affordable, but also comes with an IR bracket and a lens, the lens plus the Madagascar IR bracket only costs 1 yuan. In addition to being used in mobile phone camera modules, it is also widely used in tablet computers, endoscopes and other fields, such as Apple's ipad mini.

In recent years, camera pixels have become a way for terminal manufacturers to differentiate their products. The pixels of smartphones have exceeded 100 million, which directly leads to the overall weight of the lens becoming heavier and heavier. The thrust of the traditional VCM motor is no longer enough. To promote such a lens, some VCM motor manufacturers began to start with materials and seek new solutions.

With the breakthrough of material science, memory metal (SMA) began to be applied to the motor. The principle is to replace the suspension wire with an alloy with shape memory effect, adjust the temperature of the memory metal to control the movement of the lens, and only need four shape memory wires. It can quickly achieve accurate anti-shake and focus. Since the entire lens module is controlled, the relative position of the lens and the CMOS can be kept unchanged, thereby greatly reducing the edge degradation of image quality. However, since the mass production yield of SMA motors has not reached that of traditional VCM motors, the unit price is too high, and it is currently only used in high-end flagship mobile phones.

The technology of VCM motor is not complicated. There are hundreds of manufacturers in the world, but they have high requirements on precision and sensitivity. The difficulty is reflected in the control of precision in the production process, which involves improvements in processes, materials, and manufacturing technologies. Japanese manufacturers have great advantages in this regard. With strong manufacturing capabilities and advanced technologies, Alps, TDK, Sanmei and other companies occupy more than 30% of the global voice coil motor market.

The development of voice coil motors in China is also very rapid. At present, Chinese manufacturers of VCM motors mainly include Zhonglan, Haoze, Xinsi and other companies. Since 2013, the domestic industry has entered a period of rapid development. In the past two or three years, with the iterative updates of technologies and changes in the market structure, according to statistics, in 2018, Chinese manufacturers only accounted for 28% of the VCM motor market share. By 2020 , shipments have been close to 50%, and this year may achieve corner overtaking.