“The rising copper prices have to be endured, and the tight delivery schedules have to be met” – this is not a complaint from a single connector industry practitioner, but the collective voice of the entire industry. In the system integration industrial chain, connector manufacturers, as core supporting players, have long been trapped in a survival predicament of “increased revenue but not profit”, with every step forward accompanied by unbearable cost and risk pressures.
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Policy Guidance and Realistic Pressures: The Two-way Game in the Connector Industry
The upstream raw material prices are rising, while downstream customers are pressing for lower prices. The connector manufacturers caught in the middle are now facing an unprecedented survival squeeze.
From the supplier’s perspective: Profits are as thin as paper, while risks are as heavy as mountains.
The continuous and sharp increase in costs has become the first major burden on suppliers. In 2025, the fluctuation range of the main copper contract in Shanghai reached as high as 18%, and copper materials account for over 40% of the production cost of connectors. The severe fluctuations in raw material prices are almost entirely borne by suppliers alone. A practitioner engaged in BNC cable assemblies stated directly, “When raw material prices rise by 12%, customers are still pressing for lower prices.” This reverse imbalance between costs and quotations has left most small and medium-sized enterprises struggling to survive on the verge of profit and loss, with no ability to invest in technological upgrades and product innovation.
The extreme instability of cooperative relationships is the second major obstacle. Many enterprises have weak cooperative ties with their purchasers. Once a lower quote emerges, even if the supplier has already invested in mold development, technical adaptation and other upfront costs, the cooperation can be unilaterally terminated. This short-sighted cooperative model makes suppliers reluctant to make long-term technological investments and capacity planning. They can only passively accept orders and barely maintain their operations.
The continuous passing on of payment terms pressure has made the situation even worse for small and medium-sized manufacturers. Under the prevalent “advance payment” ecosystem in the new energy industry, many small and medium-sized connector manufacturers are worried about cash flow disruption and find themselves in an awkward situation where they have orders but dare not accept them.
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Policy orientation: Anchoring high-quality development and new quality productivity
In sharp contrast to the survival predicament of suppliers, the state has issued a series of latest policies in recent years, incorporating connectors into the core layout of high-quality development in the manufacturing industry, focusing on high-end and collaborative development. This contrasts with the current price-cutting ecosystem in the industry and further highlights the urgency of optimizing the cooperative ecosystem.
In August 2025, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the State Administration for Market Regulation jointly issued the “Action Plan for Stabilizing Growth in the Electronic Information Manufacturing Industry from 2025 to 2026”, advocating the development of new quality productivity as the driving force, strengthening collaborative innovation in the industrial chain, and promoting an industrial ecosystem of win-win cooperation between upstream and downstream sectors, setting the tone for high-quality transformation and development of the industry.
In early 2026, the relevant arrangements for the 15th Five-Year Plan will be further clarified. It is necessary to strengthen the reengineering of industrial foundations, with the cultivation of new quality productivity as the core. Leading enterprises should play the role of chain leaders and establish stable cooperative relationships with core suppliers. Essentially, this requires downstream enterprises to abandon short-sighted behaviors of squeezing suppliers and practice the concept of collaborative development to consolidate the foundation for industrial innovation and development.
The latest policy clearly points to the high-quality transformation of the manufacturing industry, and the technology and supporting value of connectors will be given key attention. However, the current industry chaos such as price-cutting and advance funding not only leaves suppliers unable to respond to the policy’s innovation requirements but also restricts the overall resilience of the industrial chain and the cultivation process of new quality productivity. Solving the suppliers’ predicament has become an inevitable question for implementing the policy and promoting industry upgrading.
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Industry Dilemma
What’s Lacking Is Not Orders, But Reliable Partners
Under the dual impetus of policy dividends and market demand, the connector industry is not short of orders but lacks a healthy cooperative ecosystem.
The deep-seated problems in the current industry are that short-term interests have taken precedence over long-term win-win cooperation, and price wars have masked the recognition of core values. Enterprises blindly lower prices and extend payment terms, forcing connector manufacturers to cut corners and reduce R&D investment. This not only makes it difficult to ensure product reliability but also runs counter to the policy goal of “improving the reliability of manufacturing”, and will affect the continuous decline in the competitiveness of the entire industrial chain.
More and more industry practitioners are beginning to reflect on what traits a true partner that meets the demands of industrial upgrading should possess. Which enterprises can be regarded as “quality purchasers” for connector manufacturers? The industry urgently needs a clear set of standards to define the core connotation of “reliability”: not the lowest quotation, but respecting the value of technology and acknowledging reasonable pricing, in line with the policy orientation towards the value of technological innovation; not the best promise, but adhering to the spirit of contract and sharing market risks, practicing the requirements of coordinated development of the industrial chain; not being flexible and changeable, but willing to collaborate in development and achieve common growth, contributing to the enhancement of the industry’s basic capabilities.
This set of standards urgently requires the industry to reach a collective consensus; this consensus needs to be led by benchmarks and free from short-sightedness. Against this backdrop, an award selection focusing on the true reputation of the industry – the “Power Supply Industry Outstanding Purchaser Lighthouse Award” (hereinafter referred to as the “Lighthouse Award”) – has emerged in response to the times.
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Lighthouse Leading the Way
Setting Industry Benchmarks and Building a Win-Win Ecosystem
At a critical juncture when the industry is mired in confusion and internal strife, the core mission of the “Lighthouse Award” is to illuminate the path forward for supply and demand cooperation – not judging by enterprise scale or order volume, but focusing solely on cooperation reputation and collaborative value, to select outstanding power supply purchasers who understand respect, are good at collaboration, and can achieve win-win outcomes.
The original intention of establishment: Say goodbye to zero-sum games and call for the return of value
The launch of the “Lighthouse Award” is not to create opposition, but to promote a paradigm shift in industry perception. We hope to achieve three goals through the establishment of an open and fair evaluation mechanism:
Set the record straight for technology: Reverse the single-minded focus on “price above all else”, and ensure that the technical added value, engineering services and reliable quality of connectors receive the recognition they deserve.
Crowning Vision: Enable enterprises to recognize that establishing a stable and mutually trusting strategic collaborative relationship with core suppliers is the fundamental way to achieve continuous cost reduction and ensure the resilience of the supply chain.
Bridge Cooperation: Build a mutual trust platform based on genuine word-of-mouth, enabling outstanding supply and demand sides to efficiently identify and precisely connect, reducing friction and trial-and-error costs in the industry.
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Core Value: Empowering the Entire Industry Chain through Three Dimensions
For the industry, it serves as a precise “benchmark”: clarifying the core standards of quality purchasers and guiding the industrial chain from vicious competition to a virtuous cycle;
For purchasers, it acts as an authoritative “honor certificate”: a solid endorsement of a company’s cooperative reputation and collaborative capabilities;
For connector manufacturers, it functions as an efficient “navigator”: providing references based on real feedback from peers, helping them identify quality customers and directing resources towards partners worthy of long-term investment.
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Participation Path: Your Vote Shapes the Future of the Industry
The decision-making power for the “Lighthouse Award” lies firmly in the hands of every connector manufacturer. This selection process adopts a fully transparent and traceable model of “industry nomination + reputation voting“:
Nomination stage: Connector manufacturers can nominate high-quality purchasers based on their real cooperation experiences and provide detailed reasons for the nomination.
Voting stage: After the candidate list is made public, all connector manufacturers can participate in the voting, with each person limited to three votes.
Commendation stage: Based on the public voting results and expert review opinions, the winning enterprises will be determined and made public. At the same time, a dedicated supply and demand matching platform will be established.
The core value of connectors should not be underestimated, and outstanding purchasers should not be overlooked. Currently, the “Lighthouse Award” selection has officially started. Every vote is an expectation for a healthy cooperative ecosystem and a boost to the healthy development of the industry. Let’s join hands to vote for reliable partners, let the light of the lighthouse illuminate the path of the industrial chain’s progress, and jointly build a new industry ecosystem of mutual benefit between supply and demand!