On July 28, Jinghua New Materials disclosed on the investor interaction platform that the company has invested in establishing Beijing Jingzhigan New Materials Co., Ltd., which will focus on the exploration and research of flexible multimodal sensors.

Following enterprises such as Fule New Materials, Hanwei Technology, Shenhao Technology, and Aodewei, another A-share listed company has entered the flexible sensor field. On July 28, Jinghua New Materials (603683.SH) disclosed on the investor interaction platform that the company has invested in establishing Beijing Jingzhigan New Materials Co., Ltd., which will focus on the exploration and research of flexible multimodal sensors. This move not only marks that this new material enterprise has officially extended to the intelligent sensing field, but also highlights the rising popularity of the flexible sensor track against the background of the outbreak of the humanoid robot industry.

As an important participant in China’s adhesive materials and optical film fields, Jinghua New Materials’ cross-border move is not accidental. It stated that the establishment of the new company is “based on the main business, seeking to break through the application of new materials in existing business fields”. This means that its exploration in the field of flexible sensors will synergize with its technical accumulation in polymer materials and film substrates. The core of flexible sensors lies in the balance between the flexibility of the substrate and sensing accuracy, and Jinghua New Materials’ production experience in adhesive materials and functional films is expected to provide unique advantages for the research and development of sensor substrates.

The “flexible multimodal sensor” laid out this time is a popular direction in the current intelligent sensing field. Different from traditional single-function sensors, multimodal sensors can detect multiple physical quantities such as pressure, temperature, and humidity at the same time, and play an irreplaceable role in scenarios such as wearable devices, intelligent robots, and medical health. For example, in the field of humanoid robots, flexible multimodal sensors can simulate the perception ability of human skin, enabling them to complete actions such as grabbing and touching more accurately; in the medical field, wearable flexible sensors can monitor human physiological signals in real time, providing data support for health management.

With the accelerated commercialization of products such as Tesla’s “Optimus” and Unitree humanoid robots, the demand for flexible sensors is experiencing explosive growth. According to GGII’s prediction, the global market size of flexible tactile sensors in the humanoid robot field will reach 27.4 billion yuan by 2030, becoming a real 10-billion-level blue ocean.

From the perspective of the industry pattern, the flexible sensor field has high technical barriers. At present, the high-end market is still dominated by international manufacturers such as Novasentis and Tekscan, and the top 5 enterprises account for 57.1% of the market share in total. However, domestic enterprises have accelerated their pursuit. Suzhou Nengsida under Hanwei Technology has been deeply engaged in this field for more than ten years, built a production line with a capacity of tens of millions of units, and served more than 3,000 customers; Fule New Materials has laid out through its subsidiary Oren New Materials, and the pilot test line has entered the commissioning stage; Aodewei has established a joint venture company in cooperation with universities, and built the industry’s first production line of electroless flexible tactile sensors. The addition of Jinghua New Materials will make this domestic substitution competition more intense.

From the perspective of industrial logic, Jinghua New Materials’ cross-border layout is both an expansion of its own technical boundaries and an accurate grasp of market trends. At present, there is still much room for optimization in the core materials and production processes of flexible sensors. Enterprises with material R&D capabilities entering the field across industries are expected to promote the industry to make breakthroughs in substrate performance and cost control. For example, if Jinghua New Materials can apply its lightweight and anti-aging technologies in the field of film materials to sensor substrates, it may improve the durability and environmental adaptability of sensors.

However, the technical barriers in the flexible sensor field cannot be ignored. From the research on material formulas and sensing mechanisms to the polishing of mass production processes, long-term investment is required. For Jinghua New Materials, how to effectively integrate existing material technologies with sensing functions, and how to make breakthroughs in “software” aspects such as multimodal signal processing algorithms, will be the key issues to be overcome next.

As the humanoid robot industry is accelerating from the laboratory to industrial and household scenarios, flexible sensors, as core components, are ushering in historic opportunities. The continuous investment of listed companies such as Jinghua New Materials will promote the industry to enter a multi-driven period of “materials + technology + capital”. In this cross-border competition, whoever can take the lead in realizing technology landing and scenario verification will be able to seize the opportunity in the rapidly growing market, and the overall development of the industry will also accelerate the process of flexible sensors from laboratory to commercial application, providing core support for innovation in fields such as intelligent equipment and consumer electronics.

Flexible automatic injection – feeding and assembly of molded parts
Flexible automated assembly system for injection molded parts with automatic loading function