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The ultra-high-speed 5G network is coming to our mobile phones, which brings victory to the foundries. The metal industry is now eager to cast casings to protect 5G base stations, which is a potential growth market. However, this new demand also requires different die casting methods and larger machines.
Mobile Internet networks are accelerating, and at the forefront of this driving force is 5G. The successor to the 4G network promises speeds 10 times faster than its predecessor. Most importantly, 5G wants to connect not only smartphones, but also new applications, such as IoT sensors, self-driving cars, and smart cities.
Some foundries are taking advantage of the extensive expansion of this new-generation network to develop their businesses. The main 5G component cast by the metal foundry is the housing unit of the base station. These units, usually made of aluminum, are a key part of 5G networks because they contain and protect the antennas and network equipment needed to connect users to the wider Internet. You may have seen these base stations on the roof or by the highway. From there, they connect smartphones and other devices to the Internet.
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The number of global 5G base stations is rapidly expanding. As a 5G leader, China had 819,000 5G base stations at the end of the first quarter of 2021. According to data from Market Research Future, from 2020 to 2027, the compound annual growth rate of the total 5G base station market will reach 37.6%. All these base stations need to be equipped with housings.
This kind of shell has been necessary for previous generations of mobile networks (such as 4G). However, 5G places new requirements on metal foundries and the parts they cast. 5G base stations are larger and more complex than 4G base stations, and consume more energy. 5G base station enclosures also need to be able to withstand higher temperatures than previous generation enclosures.
This poses new challenges to materials, especially machinery used in metal foundries. In order to seize the opportunity of the 5G era and manufacture 5G communication base station structural parts, Chinese die-casting manufacturer Zhuhai Runxingtai Electric purchased Yizumi 4000T automatic die-casting unit from Guangdong Yizumi Precision Machinery as early as 2019. So far in Runxingtai's cells. While the COVID19 pandemic has slowed down many industries, on the other hand, the expansion of 5G has also accelerated. For example, in order to meet the increasing demand for network coverage in hospital wards and mobile hospitals, China's communication station suppliers have increased their output. Therefore, the demand for 5G base station housings and shielding covers has also increased, prompting Jiansheng Technology to invest in 3000T and 3500T die-casting production lines in Yizumi in early 2020.
The resulting competition has brought bigger and bigger machines. For example, Glovitech, a South Korean company specializing in telecommunications equipment, introduced a 6000-ton cold chamber die casting machine in its Vietnam plant in March 2021. This makes it the largest tonnage model manufactured by the LK Group that makes the machine. FAIST Precision Suzhou, another 5G base station housing manufacturer, also upgraded their die-casting machine at the end of 2020 to cope with the growing 5G demand, using the German machine FRECH GDK3200T manufactured by Oskar Frech.
5G is also promoting new casting technologies. For example, semi-solid casting is becoming more and more popular in 5G enclosures. This technique puts part of the melt in a solid state while the other part remains in a liquid state. By shearing the melt faster, less force is required. Rio Tinto and Comptech collaborated in May 2021 to provide a new generation of aluminum alloy specifically designed for rheological casting, which is a sub-method of semi-solid casting. In this way, they are responding to market demands in industries such as telecommunications and automobiles, which require larger machines and different die-casting methods to produce electric cars.
5G provides metal foundries with an opportunity to take a share of the $1 billion telecommunications market. However, this in turn requires them to invest in larger machines and new die casting methods. However, as the telecommunications market grows rapidly due to the expansion of 5G networks, and newer and larger die-casting methods are also useful for markets such as automobiles, the increased investment may bring substantial returns.
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Johannes Messer-Consulting Co., Ltd.; Previous post: Yizumi; http://promove.ch/de/content/fondarex-sa; GF Casting Solutions AG; Godfrey and Win; Salzburg Aluminum Company; AED Automation Co., Ltd.; Company; Gemeinfrei; GF; Creaform; Bühler; Fraunhofer IGCV / Andreas Heddergott; Materialization; FIMRO Co., Ltd.