Mainland China is the largest supplier of DC motors, accounting for more than 60 percent of total global production. Output is expected to reach 2.95 billion units in 2007, and will continue to grow at an average rate of 10 percent in the coming years.

Many manufacturers in the region appear to be reaching full capacity, and are now planning to increase production and overall exports by adding more capacity. Raw material prices appear to have stabilized, at least in the short term, while labor shortages have been addressed to some extent with wage increases.

The standard or brushed DC motor supply market is mature, but micro-motor production dominates by far. Most suppliers see growth opportunities in the emerging in-car and household appliances markets, as well as the steady mobile phone industry.

The following are some of the key trends we see in China�s DC motor industry:

• Prices may increase by about 5 to 10 percent into the first half of 2008, mainly because of high prices of critical raw materials such as copper and silicon steel, and concerns with increased labor costs.
• The EU is still the principal market for DC motor exports, followed by North America. Most export-oriented manufacturers have fully addressed compliance issues related to RoHS and WEEE, and the rest are following suit.
• Increased efficiency is a top priority for China manufacturers, who are aiming to reduce DC motor noise or vibration and overall size.
• Most manufacturers have reached full utilization, but in order to boost their exports, are planning to increase capacity anywhere between 20 and 50 percent. Many will expand output of brushless motors for in-car electronics products such as DVD players.

For the purposes of this report, DC motors are classified into three categories: standard or brushed DC motors, brushless DC motors, and micromotor.

Standard or brushed DC motors encompass a wide range of low-end to high-end products, including permanent magnetic motors, electromagnetic motors, hybrid DC motors, and DC torque motors.

Standard DC motors are widely used in household appliances, power tools, A/V products, industrial controls, and the automotive sector. Permanent magnetic motors have the widest application.

Brushless DC (BLDC) motors feature high rotation speed, high efficiency, long operating life, low noise and low power consumption.

Micro-motors, which usually range between 4mm and 40mm in diameter, are used in mobile phones, home appliances, electronic toys, A/V equipment and portable electronic devices.

The Products & Prices section in this report details the specifications and price ranges of DC motors made in China. The latest product development trends, as well as manufacturers� R&D plans, are discussed in the Product Development section.

The Industry Overview elaborates on the industry composition, highlighting key characteristics of different types of suppliers.

The DC motor suppliers base in China boasts of about 1,000 manufacturers, with new players constantly entering the line. About 10 percent of these companies are large-scale, while about half are foreign owned.

Production is concentrated in the provinces of Zhejiang, Guangdong, and Jiangsu, with 80 percent of all suppliers concentrated in these areas. Reflecting the industry structure, close to 75 percent of suppliers profiled in this report are from these three provinces.