Quartz crystal industry of China at crossroads

Quartz crystal devices have been playing important roles as enablers in modern electronics, and China also has a strong industry for circuit applications in the beginning and as a leading global supplier and end-user lately. The transformation of the quartz crystal industry in the US and Europe has led to the globalization and reorganization of the production of quartz crystal devices in China with significant impact in the market and technology. It has also been known that as a producer of quartz crystal products, leading companies in China have been collaborating with partners outside China for technology and marketing to promote trade and production. In the meantime, many manufacturing hubs for leading OEM companies of consumer electronics industry, with telecommunication and appliances in particular, have been using many quartz crystal products from Japan and Korea. It is possible that large producers in Japan and Korea will continue their production through technology leadership, but the market share can be significantly weakened by Chinese manufacturers. As an initiative to foster the technology development and innovation, Chinese companies have been encouraged and assisted through various partnerships such as joint ventures with foreign companies, research and development collaboration with universities, and governmental subsidy for innovative and quality products, to upgrade technology and serve the high-end application in China.