Welcome Here  Shenzhen Mingjiada Electronics Co., Ltd.

December 23rd, Molex predicts that the market demand for reliable, durable and high-speed connectors will grow significantly over the next few years as generative artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and cloud solutions have a greater impact in areas such as data centres, automotive, consumer electronics, and medical technology.

At the same time, the need for greater collaboration between electronics designers, manufacturing engineers and supply chain specialists is particularly important today in order to address the growing demand for innovation, including pressing needs in key areas such as thermal management, power management, materials science and battery technology.

Connector-related solutions are expected to continue to proliferate through 2025, fueling the growth of hyperscale data centres and software-defined vehicles, while breaking through the bottleneck of miniaturisation and high-performance connectivity for consumer and medical technology devices,’ said Mike Deppe, vice president of global product development at Molex. As the market demand for access to data and instant information continues to rise, the connectivity technology space is poised for more opportunities and challenges. We are well positioned to meet these challenges on behalf of our global customers, suppliers and technology partners.’

Top 10 predictions for 2025

1. hyperscale data centres continue to use high-speed optical transceivers

With the rapid proliferation of generative AI, there is a critical need for operators to enhance data processing capabilities and expand capacity in hyperscale data centres. To this end, they are accelerating the deployment of high-speed optical transceivers for efficient connectivity in and out of the rack, which in turn increases port density, enhances signal integrity and reduces power consumption.

2. With the dramatic increase in 224 Gbps PAM-4 connectors, thermal management technologies need to be upgraded.

With the increasing deployment of 224 Gbps PAM-4 connectors and the industry's move to 448 Gbps PAM-4 technology, it is clear that air-cooled data centre solutions are reaching their operational limits. This reality is driving the development of new thermal management solutions, including liquid cooling technologies such as direct chip cooling and immersion cooling, and Molex is working closely with customers, power ecosystem partners, and organisations such as OCP to accelerate the development of next-generation cooling technologies and standards.

3. 48-volt power system momentum drives advancements in automotive functionality

By increasing the system voltage up to four times, 48-volt technology enhances temperature pre-regulation for electric turbocharging, regenerative braking, entertainment systems and auxiliary battery charging. In addition, higher current and higher voltage are critical to improving the efficiency of the power used by sensors, actuators and control units in advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).

4. The power system challenge remains one of the toughest challenges in product design engineering.

The ongoing need to balance power capacity, functional safety, efficiency and cost, and performance monitoring is driving industry investment and innovation in battery technology and solutions to reduce signal and power interference.

5. 5G network deployments have been slow and will continue to be hindered as consumers look for the ‘killer application’.

The introduction of Meta's Orion product signalled the future of AR eyewear, but its impact on 5G development will take time to be felt. With the emergence of ‘killer applications’, the industry's increased demand for high-speed wireless connectivity and compact micro-connectors (such as the millions of micro-connectors provided by Molex for the top mobile device manufacturers) will accelerate the pace of 5G deployment. 6.

6. The convergence of connector ruggedisation and miniaturisation will foster cross-industry innovation

The convergence of connector ruggedisation and miniaturisation will drive cross-industry innovation. The industry is adopting compact and ruggedised connectors with 2.54mm or less terminal pitch, a trend that will dominate electric vehicles and partitioned architectures, and make significant inroads in areas such as consumer electronics, medical devices, industrial automation and smart agriculture. The combination of miniaturisation and ruggedisation will improve space utilisation, signal integrity and thermal management.

7. Advances in materials science will balance product strength, weight and environmental performance

Digital twins, artificial intelligence and materials databases will play an increasingly important role in areas such as material property identification, processing innovation, selection, application engineering and testing. More materials science breakthroughs are expected to emerge in the construction of micro-connectors, especially in balancing product strength, weight, electrical conductivity, chemical resistance, environmental performance and the use of bio-based materials.

8. Volume customised manufacturing and consumer-centric vehicle experiences vary from market to market

The development of vehicle architectures will be adapted to driving preferences and experiences around the world. In the dynamic market of China, continuous experimentation will drive innovation, while the European market, represented by German automakers, favours multiple technologies. U.S. automakers will focus on software-driven architectures, especially in the passenger car and sport utility vehicle segments.

9. Cross-industry collaboration will flourish, with design engineers drawing on experience from different disciplines.

Cross-industry collaboration is expected to accelerate as design engineers apply their expertise in hyperscale data centres to address issues such as power and thermal management, sensor fusion and signal integrity in automotive and consumer electronics.

10. Inventory rebalancing and supply flexibility required to cope with ongoing supply chain volatility

Transforming intelligence and data into actionable resources to gain real-time insights in a faster and more accurate manner will improve forecasting and risk management capabilities. This will drive a paradigm shift in supply chain planning towards forecasting and scenario-based modelling and facilitate faster and more adaptive decision-making processes.