CITIC Securities released a research report indicating that with the development of high-density chips and packaging technologies, the thermal power consumption of electronic components continues to climb, leading to a sharp increase in thermal management demands. China's Thermal Interface Materials (TIM) market expanded from RMB 975 million in 2018 to RMB 1.875 billion in 2023, achieving a compound annual growth rate of 13.97%, demonstrating significant growth momentum.
In chip thermal management, TIM1 and TIM2 constitute a "dual thermal conductive engine" system. TIM1 directly contacts the chip and requires low thermal resistance and high thermal conductivity, utilizing fillers such as graphene and boron nitride to achieve higher thermal conductivity coefficients. TIM2 is designed for heat spreaders and heat sinks, balancing thermal efficiency with cost considerations, typically featuring thermal conductivity of 5-10W/m·K. Both materials reduce contact thermal resistance by filling gaps, ensuring stable chip operation.
Furthermore, TIM applications are widespread in consumer electronics and new energy vehicles, accounting for 46.7% and 38.5% respectively. As downstream demand continues to upgrade, the industry outlook remains promising.
CITIC Securities' main viewpoints include:
**Rising Thermal Management Demands Drive TIM as Core Component**
With continuous advancement in high-density chips and packaging technologies, thermal management challenges for electronic components become increasingly prominent. Thermal Interface Materials (TIM), as core thermal management products, are experiencing rapid market growth. TIM finds extensive applications across computers, consumer devices, telecommunications infrastructure, automotive sectors, and other fields, primarily used to fill microscopic gaps between heat dissipation components and heat-generating devices, reducing contact thermal resistance and enhancing thermal efficiency.
**Broad TIM Application Scenarios with Chip Thermal Demands Leading Product Innovation**
In chip thermal management, TIM1 and TIM2 function as a "dual thermal conductive engine." NVIDIA GPU thermal power consumption has increased from 700W in H100 to 1200W in B200, while mobile chip heat flux density has exceeded 15W/cm², driving acute thermal management requirements.
In consumer electronics, as performance and power consumption of smartphones, tablets, and other devices increase, thermal management solutions continue to evolve. Development has progressed from traditional thermal interface materials combined with graphite films to integrated solutions incorporating heat pipes and vapor chambers, with high thermal conductivity materials achieving gradually higher penetration rates.
Simultaneously, VR/AR devices, solid-state drives, smart speakers, wireless chargers, and other electronic products have raised thermal management requirements, with thermal interface materials providing precision thermal solutions for specific application scenarios.
**New Materials Enable TIM Thermal Performance Breakthrough, Domestic Market Share Expected to Rise**
Looking ahead, continuous development of new materials, including superior-performance diamond materials and high thermal conductivity graphene nanomaterials, will further enhance thermal interface material capabilities. Currently, the global thermal interface materials market remains dominated by overseas enterprises. However, driven by upstream material localization improvements and research development barrier breakthroughs, domestic enterprises' market share is expected to gradually increase.
Concurrently, with continued expansion of downstream markets including consumer electronics and automotive electronics, the thermal interface materials industry will encounter broader development opportunities.
**Risk Factors:** Product innovation risks, intensifying industry competition risks, raw material price volatility risks, macroeconomic change risks.