Starting from January 2026, driven by downstream applications such as new energy vehicle electronic control systems, AI training server motherboard capacity expansion, and precision assembly of TWS earphones, the domestic SMT Solder market has shown obvious structural growth characteristics. The shipments of traditional tin-lead Alloy Solder decreased slightly by 1.2% year-on-year, while the shipments of low-temperature lead-free Solder Paste suitable for high-density interconnection, high-wettability Solder Bars with silver content ≥3.0%, and SMT solder products meeting AEC-Q200 automotive-grade verification increased by 24.7%, 18.3%, and 31.5% year-on-year respectively. Some leading enterprises have included automotive-grade SMT solder in their key delivery list for Q1 2026.

According to the Quarterly Monitoring Briefing on Electronic Soldering Materials released by the China Electronic Materials Industry Association in February 2026, the current production capacity distribution of the SMT solder industry continues to gather in East China and the Pearl River Delta. Changzhou, Jiangsu and Dongguan, Guangdong gather 63% of the country's mid-to-high-end SMT solder production capacity. Among them, the proportion of production lines equipped with full-process nitrogen-protected smelting, online metal composition spectral analysis, and batch traceability systems has reached 57%, an increase of 19 percentage points compared with the same period in 2024. However, small and medium-sized manufacturers still face practical bottlenecks such as insufficient precision in Flux activity regulation and long compatibility verification cycles for Reflow Soldering.

The evolution of the industry's technical routes has also accelerated synchronously. In February 2026, a new type of Bi-Ag-In series low-temperature solder paste mass-produced and delivered by a leading SMT solder enterprise in Shenzhen has been mass-produced and introduced in the motherboard mounting of multiple foldable screen mobile phones. Its peak reflow temperature is controlled within the range of 195℃±3℃, which is 22℃ lower than that of the traditional SAC305 system, effectively alleviating the failure rate of heat-sensitive devices. This formula has passed the JEDEC JESD22-A108H high temperature and high humidity life test, with a cumulative power-on aging time of 1000 hours without interface delamination. However, it has not yet formed a cross-platform general process window, and still needs to jointly debug and adapt parameters with placement machine and reflow oven manufacturers.

At the supply chain level, the average raw material inventory cycle of domestic SMT solder enterprises in Q1 2026 was 42 days, 5 days shorter than that in the same period of 2025, mainly due to the upstream electrolytic copper, refined tin, and rosin derivative suppliers adopting the VMI collaborative model. However, the import dependence of high-purity silver powder still reaches 68%. Sumitomo Metal of Japan and Heraeus of Germany together account for 53% of the global electronic-grade silver powder production capacity. A domestic new material enterprise completed the pilot test of chemically reduced ultra-fine silver powder samples in February 2026, with the particle size D50 stably at 0.82μm and the oxygen content lower than 120ppm. The samples have been sent to three SMT Solder Manufacturers for compatibility evaluation, and have not yet entered the mass procurement stage.

The procurement behavior of terminal customers has also changed significantly. Since January 2026, CATL's intelligent driving domain controller production line, Cambricon's Siyuan 370 accelerator card module production line, and Huami Technology's new generation of smart bracelet production line have all compressed the SMT solder supplier audit cycle from the conventional 90 days to 56 days. The audit focus has shifted from the previous physical performance indicators to long-term batch consistency, the integrity of temperature and humidity records during transportation, and the timeliness of failure analysis response. Seven domestic SMT solder manufacturers have completed the on-site second-party audits of the above three types of customers and signed annual framework agreements in Q1 2026.