lithium batteries can be roughly divided into three categories: consumption, power and energy storage.
Compared with the familiar power battery companies, consumer battery manufacturers are generally less well-known, but they have achieved an industry position that cannot be ignored in this segment, such as Zijian Electronics.
information shows that the company is a national high-tech enterprise engaged in the research and development, design, production and sales of consumer rechargeable lithium-ion battery products. The product capacity is mainly below 1000mAh, and is used in various small consumer electronics. Product is the main application field, such as Bluetooth headsets , smart wearable devices ( smart watches , bracelets, VR/AR glasses, etc.), portable medical equipment, vehicle recorders, etc.
Benefiting from the invention patent for the lamination process of hard-shell button batteries, Zijian Electronics and the European company Varta have gradually formed a rivalry.
In 2021, the company produced 100.6105 million TWS headphone batteries. Based on the estimated global installed capacity that year, Zijian Electronics’ global market share reached 11.18%, an increase of more than 3 percentage points from 2019.
In June 2022, Zijian Electronics’ registration application on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange’s GEM has been approved. Next, while many power battery companies are gathering in the capital market, a leading consumer-grade lithium battery company will be added.
products cover Huawei , Google and other brands
According to product appearance, the company's lithium-ion batteries can be divided into product series such as square batteries, button batteries, cylindrical batteries, and needle batteries.
different product series have different corresponding application fields.
Among them, rectangular batteries and button batteries can be used in TWS charging boxes and TWS earphones, while cylindrical batteries are mainly used in sports Bluetooth earphones.
In addition, the company's button batteries have covered well-known mobile phone and headphone brands such as Huawei, Xiaomi , Sennheiser and Harman . At the same time, representative brand customers of prismatic batteries include Huawei and Google. Its bracelet products, as well as BO's Bluetooth speaker .
In terms of revenue scale, prismatic batteries and button batteries account for more than 85% of revenue in recent years, and have reached 90% in some years. They contribute most of the company's revenue sources, and also Contributed to the company's main profits.
According to relevant data, the company's prismatic battery and button battery gross profit margins will reach 25.28% and 52.45% respectively in 2021. Among them, the prismatic battery profit margin has declined slightly compared with 2020, but the button battery has further improved on the high level of 50%. promote.
Comparing the gross profit margins from 2019 to 2021, it can be seen that the company's main business gross profit margins are 30.41%, 37.76% and 32.23% respectively, and there is a certain degree of volatility.
In this regard, Zijian Electronics pointed out that "the main reason is due to fluctuations in the sales revenue of various types of batteries and the gross profit margin of various types of batteries."
Thanks to the growth of product sales, the company's revenue has continued to grow in the past three years. Expansion, from 420 million yuan in 2019 to 799 million yuan in 2021, while net profit increased from 46.269 million yuan to 95.4616 million yuan during the same period.
However, this year, affected by factors such as rising prices of upstream raw materials and the epidemic, the company's revenue in the first quarter remained relatively stable. However, rising costs had a certain impact on the company's net profit in the first quarter.
According to Zijian Electronics’ estimates, operating income in the first quarter of this year will be between 160 and 180 million yuan, a change of -1.64% to 10.65% compared with the same period last year; the net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company is expected to be 16 million to 25 million yuan, which is 16 million to 25 million yuan, compared with the same period last year. The same period last year changed -47.31% to -17.67%.
takes its main raw material lithium cobalt oxide as an example. At the beginning of 2022, the market price was around 428,000 yuan/ton, and by the end of March it had risen to 600,000 yuan/ton.
"The prices of main raw materials have increased compared with the same period last year, and there is a certain lag in transmission to downstream customers. At the same time, affected by factors such as the epidemic, the company's operating costs have increased." Zijian Electronics pointed out.
However, judging from the situation in the second quarter, the above two negative factors are gradually fading. For example, the price of lithium cobalt oxide has dropped back to 465,000 yuan/ton. The company's cost-side pressure has been significantly alleviated, and a profit turning point is also expected to emerge.
needs to point out that the company still maintains a strong ability to obtain orders. New orders received in 2019, 2020, and 2021 were 480 million yuan, 830 million yuan, and 1.071 billion yuan respectively, showing an upward trend year by year.
As of December 31, 2021, the company's orders to be executed were 610 million yuan, which also provided strong support for the company's subsequent performance growth.
has outstanding technical strength and was the first to break through the lamination process.
Similar to other domestic consumer electronics companies, Zijian Electronics has also gone through the early stages of outsourcing processing, independent production and technology accumulation. Since 2012, it has begun to produce square batteries, cylindrical batteries and other small-sized batteries. Lithium-ion battery products.
Before 2016, there were only products with roll-type production processes on the market. However, the German company Varta owned the global patent for roll-type hard-shell button batteries and had a monopoly position.
also became a turning point in the development of Zijian Electronics in 2016. After several years of technology accumulation, the company has made significant technological progress and successfully developed a laminated hard-shell button battery. This product applied for an invention patent on February 26, 2016, and obtained an invention patent on June 12, 2018. Authorization. This product breaks the patent blockade of the German Varta Company in the field of hard-shell button batteries, and is of great significance to the company itself and the localization of button batteries.
In 2018, the company successfully developed a needle-shaped battery.
Information shows that Varta is a global leader in the field of TWS headset batteries, with strong technical strength and high-end brand positioning. Apple's TWS headset AirPods series batteries are exclusively supplied by the company.
On the other hand, Zijian Electronics, after years of technical research, has broken through the technical pain points and difficulties of the lamination process and achieved mass production of hard-shell button cells using the lamination process.
"Because of the uniqueness of the issuer's basic technology, the issuer has not been challenged by other battery manufacturers (including Varta) in terms of patents. On the contrary, it has formed a rivalry with Varta." Zijian Electronics pointed out.
It is also thanks to the patent layout in the field of laminate technology hard-shell button batteries that Zijian Electronics has successfully entered Huawei, OPPO, Xiaomi, LG, Google, Harman, Sennheiser, Plantronics. The supply chain of well-known domestic and foreign TWS headset manufacturers such as .
As of the end of 2021, Zijian Electronics has 119 authorized patents, including 7 Chinese invention patents, 102 Chinese utility model patents, 4 foreign invention patents, and 6 foreign utility model patents, including lithium battery process optimization, small Core technologies such as button battery development, small cylindrical battery development, and ultra-safe lithium-ion battery technology development are all advanced technologies in the industry. Comparing the time and quantity of patent authorizations obtained by
, it can also be seen that since 2018, the company has not only obtained multiple domestic invention patent authorizations, but also obtained patent authorizations from Germany, Japan, South Korea and the United States.
's achievement of the above results requires continuous high-intensity R&D investment from enterprises. Comparing the data from 2019 to 2021, it can be seen that the proportion of R&D expenses in operating income is 7.84%, 7.77% and 9.42% respectively. Zijian Electronics’ R&D investment is increasing year by year.
This has also become an important driving force for the company's continuous expansion of revenue and market share. Taking 2020 as an example, 12 of the 19 brands with the top global TWS headphone market share have reached cooperation with Zijian Electronics. It can be said that the company has entered the supply chain of most mainstream headphone brands and occupies an important position. rank in the field.
According to Counterpoint data, TWS headset shipments are expected to reach 300 million pairs in 2021. Calculated based on the fact that each pair of TWS headsets is equipped with two headphone batteries and one charging box battery, the demand for TWS headset batteries in 2021 will be 900 million. pellets.
In 2021, Zijian Electronics’ TWS headphone battery sales have reached 100.6105 million units, accounting for approximately 11.18% of the global market.
Taking into account barriers such as technology and patents, customer resources and manufacturing processes, as well as the heavy volume of existing partners such as Xiaomi, Huawei and Realme, Zijian Electronics still has a lot of room for improvement.
Expand production capacity and strengthen R&D to support the "three-depth" strategic goal
Unlike other industries, the development of consumer lithium batteries is largely affected by downstream industries, and the consumer electronics industry has a short update cycle and high technological content Advanced characteristics, which also put forward higher requirements for the product development, process level, delivery capabilities, etc. of supporting battery suppliers.
In addition, with the rapid expansion of the emerging consumer electronics industry, the market demand for small batteries has been greatly promoted. Companies with patented technology advantages in this segment will become the biggest beneficiaries of this development opportunity.
On the other hand, Zijian Electronics has the above-mentioned patented technology and a mature market. It is logical for Zijian Electronics to gain a larger market share by further improving its production capacity. The funds raised by
from the company's GEM listing are also planned to be invested in production capacity and research and development, including consumer lithium-ion battery expansion projects and Zijian R&D center construction projects.
As of 2021, the company's total production capacity of various types of batteries is 179 million units, and actual output exceeds 130 million units. The prospectus of
shows that the company will carry out the construction of a "consumer lithium-ion battery expansion project". After the project is completed, the company will have an annual production capacity of 85.86 million consumer lithium-ion batteries.
The project plans to reach production in three years, reaching 30% of production in the first year of production (the second half of year T2), 65% of production in the second year, and 100% of production in the third year.
The above-mentioned production capacity construction also matches the needs of Zijian Electronics’ existing customers, including Goertek, , and Jiahe Intelligent, which have released a certain amount of production capacity for TWS headsets in the past two years.
"With the advantages of technological innovation and quality control, the company has continued to increase its orders from original customers such as Goertek, Jiahe Intelligent, Edifier , etc.; at the same time, it continues to expand new customers, including Wanmo Acoustics , Panasonic , Orders for , Sony , etc. are constantly increasing,” Zijian Electronics pointed out.
Judging from the trends in the same industry, other consumer lithium battery manufacturers are also in the stage of expansion.
Among them, Yiwei Lithium Energy's production capacity in 2019 is 30 million units/year, and it is working to expand production capacity. The products are mainly used in wearable devices mainly TWS headsets; at the beginning of 2020, Penghui Energy's button The annual battery production capacity is about 40 million units, and the upgrade and expansion of the TWS earphone button battery production line has begun.
In addition, the company also plans to invest part of the raised funds in R&D center construction projects to carry out "4.4V 5C fast charging battery platform development", "4.4V high energy density silicon-based system development", and "lithium-rich manganese-based material platform development" and " solid-state battery development" and other research and development projects, making technological breakthroughs in terms of battery life, fast charging, solid-state batteries, etc.
"will significantly improve the company's core competitiveness, help the company participate in market competition, consolidate the company's market position, and provide a reliable guarantee for the company's sustainable development and realization of strategic goals." Zijian Electronics pointed out.
According to the company's plan, in the next three years, the company's development focus will be centered on the "three depths" of technology, production, and market, in order to achieve sustained growth in revenue and profits, and comprehensively enhance the company's comprehensive competitive strength.
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