Materials for Connectors

Connectors are components or devices that connect two cables to allow electric power or electric signals to flow from one cable into the other—and are ubiquitous components in the myriad electronic devices used in our daily lives.

The increasing sophistication and multifunctionality of electronic devices has spurred an explosion in the variety of connectors available, which now span an extraordinarily broad range of functionality. For example, even within the narrow subfield of connectors for automotive applications one finds that connectors responsible for delivering data from cameras and other sensor devices to engine control units (ECUs)  are subject to specifications entirely different from those of the high-current, high-voltage connectors used for batteries and inverters in electric vehicles.

The two basic functional properties required of connectors are (1) the ability to form electrical connections via contact connectivity, and (2) easy coupling and decoupling.

Here coupling and decoupling refer simply to the ease of connecting and disconnecting cables via connectors to facilitate assembling of various types of products—and exchanging or inspecting various types of components—without using tools or soldering.

Every connector consists of a pair of components referred to by various terms—such as plug and jack, plug and receptacle, or male and female—depending on their shapes. Connectors comprise two main parts: contacts, terminals responsible for passing electrical currents—and housings (or insulators), made of plastic and responsible for aggregating terminals to ensure stable connections and protecting contacts from external disturbances such as shocks, contaminants, and water droplets.

Production of connectors typically involves the following four steps.

The industrial sector responsible for the greatest share of connector sales in 2019 was the automotive sector at 23.7%, followed by communications (22.4%) and PCs and peripheral devices (13.4%)

Connectors for conventional automotive applications include both cable-to-circuit-board connectors and circuit-board-to-circuit-board connectors responsible for connecting various control units to each other and to the ECU.

Recent years have seen growing demand for connectors used in an increasingly broad range of applications, from high-voltage connectors in electric vehicles to high-speed interconnect cables for cameras used in self-driving vehicles and advanced driver-assistance systems involving radars or similar devices.

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As we have seen, connectors are used in nearly every industry and in almost every imaginable product.

Key industrial sectors responsible for fueling growth in the connector market in recent years include the automotive sector, with its ongoing evolution toward electronic and electric vehicles; smartphones, which are increasingly multifunctional devices thanks to the emergence of 5G; industrial equipment, where trends toward automation and manpower reduction are key drivers; communications, where the shift toward digital is being accelerated by 5G; and increasing use of solar power and other renewable energy sources.

Other consumer-related developments creating growing demand for connectors include (1) increasing interest in wearable terminals, and (2) increasing sales of major home appliances and home-construction equipment inspired by the pandemic-driven trend to spend more time at home.