The digital age has put forward higher requirements for electronic measuring instruments, and at the same time has brought a broader market for electronic measuring instrument manufacturers. The rapid development of my country’s electronic information industry has become the focus of attention of internationally renowned electronic instrument manufacturers. Relying on their own strong technical and financial strength, they have continuously launched new products while increasing cooperation with Chinese universities, enterprises and research institutes. Some companies have even moved their Asia-Pacific headquarters to China. This shows that they value the Chinese market.
Agilent has not only made achievements in the fields of communication testing and general electronic instruments, but also made great progress in the field of semiconductor testing in China with its 93000SOC test products. They have successively established the first system-on-chip (SOC) test service base in Beijing with China Huada Integrated Circuit Design Center, and then jointly established the Peking University-Agilent Technology SOC Test Education Center and Peking University-Agilent Technology SOC Test Engineering Center with the Institute of Microelectronics of Peking University, and cooperated with the Fifth Institute of Electronics of the Ministry of Information Industry to establish the Integrated Circuit Test Industrialization Development Center. Their cooperation with domestic semiconductor design and manufacturing manufacturers such as Datang, Haier, Liuhe Wantong, Shougang NEC, SMIC, and Ark has also been carried out successfully.
After Tektronix transferred the production line of TDS1000 and TDS2000 digital storage oscilloscopes from Yangzhong, Jiangsu to Pudong, Shanghai last year, it has settled its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Pudong, Shanghai this year.
The cooperation between R&S and Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications announced yesterday is just the beginning. In the future, R&S will also launch a series of cooperation with other domestic universities or enterprises.
New markets drive demand for electronic instruments
The cautious moves of foreign manufacturers are not groundless. The vast market for electronic instruments in my country is the reason for their frequent attacks.
Experts predict that in the next 12 years, 50 million TV sets in my country will need to be replaced, which will give rise to an incremental market of more than 100 billion yuan, and by 2010, the number of domestic pay TV users will reach 128 million. In recent years, digital cameras have grown at an astonishing rate, with a global growth of 76.1% in 2003 and an expected growth of more than 20% this year, reaching 56.93 million sets. The rapid growth of these digital consumer electronic products has brought new opportunities for electronic instrument companies.
The semiconductor industry is the “barometer” of the development of the information industry. The rapid development of China’s semiconductor industry has created a huge demand for the market for mid- and high-end integrated circuit test systems. In the next few years, my country’s integrated circuit industry will accelerate its development, and it is expected that the market for integrated circuit testers and systems will reach more than 50 billion yuan.
my country is a major user of new display devices. In 2001, new display devices accounted for 10% of the world’s display market. It is estimated that the market for new display device testing instruments will exceed US$2 billion annually in the next few years.