The domestic pneumatic components market has exceeded 35 billion yuan.
In the entire field of industrial automation, this is not a shocking number, but there are several signals that practitioners should pay attention to.
The signals come from three corners of the market, and they are all inconspicuous, but when viewed in tandem, the industry is undergoing a silent “shift.”
Signal 1: Equipment manufacturers have begun to split the BOM list
In the past, the most common way for equipment manufacturers to purchase pneumatic components was to unify the brand for the entire line.
Engineers are used to a certain brand and place orders based on that brand.
After one project, there are dozens or hundreds of cylinders with the same logo.
Simple, no mistakes, no explanation required.
The change in 2026 is that more and more equipment manufacturers are beginning to dismantle the BOM.
They marked the pneumatic workstations on the production line one by one: which ones are high-frequency heavy loads, which ones are ordinary push and pull, and which ones are auxiliary actions.
The suppliers are then reassigned by workstation attributes.
A friend who makes lithium battery equipment told me that they tried this strategy on a new line last year.
The pressing station continues to use Norgren, and the remaining two dozen pushing, positioning, and sorting stations have all been replaced by Xingchen pneumatic thin cylinders.
The entire line passed the acceptance inspection, and the procurement cost was reduced by nearly 40%.
This year they copied the configuration plan of this line to three other projects.
“I didn’t dare to change before because I was afraid of trouble. Now I don’t dare not to change because the cost is there and the boss can see it.” He said.
What does this signal mean?
This means that the price system of the pneumatic components market is being recalibrated.
In the biggest price band of conventional workstations, users are no longer willing to continue to pay for “unused performance”.
Signal 2: The 2-year warranty has changed from a brand to a first-class brand
Before 2023, there was almost no 2-year warranty in the pneumatic component industry.
One year is an industry rule, written on the last page of every brand’s sample book. No one questions it, and no one breaks through.
In 2024, Xingchen Pneumatic began to implement a 2-year warranty on the thin cylinder product line.
At that time, the reaction of the industry was “quite bold”, but it was more of a wait-and-see approach – if the failure rate could not sustain it, the 2-year warranty would be digging a hole for itself.
By 2026, there will be more than one brand offering a two-year warranty, especially among domestic mid- to high-end brands.
Behind this change is a very simple fact: Anyone who dares to sign a 2-year warranty must have run through the data.
The life of the seal, the wear resistance of the piston rod, and the consistency of the batches—if these indicators reach a certain level, the company will not take the initiative to extend the warranty period.
The two-year warranty has changed from a differentiation strategy for a brand to a common practice for a category, which shows that the reliability of domestic pneumatic components under normal working conditions has indeed improved.
It does not rely on the breakthrough of one company, but on the overall improvement of the process level of the entire supply chain.
Signal 3: Domestic components are going overseas with the equipment
A few years ago, I went to Southeast Asia to visit the factories of Chinese equipment manufacturers. Most of the pneumatic components inside were imported brands.
Local customers recognized the imported logo, but the equipment manufacturer was too lazy to explain.
Going again this year, the situation will be different.
A friend who works in a packaging line in Thailand said that when they recommend equipment to customers, they will take the initiative to show customers Xingchen Pneumatic’s 2-year warranty commitment.
“You tell the customer that this brand has exactly the same size as the imported one, the price is 40% cheaper, and if it breaks, it will be replaced within two years – the customer has no reason to refuse.”
The more important thing is spare parts.
Local agents sell imported brands, and the process takes three or four days.
Xingchen has a local dealer, and regular seals can arrive within two days.
For customers who cannot afford to stop the production line, the difference between two days and four days is decisive.
This signal shows that domestic pneumatic component companies are undergoing a role change from “following equipment manufacturers to go overseas” to “being actively selected by customers.”
The driving force for the change is not price, but the trust established with actual delivery speed in overseas markets.
Looking at the three signals in series
The market size of 35 billion is not news in itself.
The news is that the 35 billion is being reallocated.
The allocation logic has changed.
In the past, products were divided according to brand awareness, but now they are divided according to workstation attributes, warranty period, and overseas delivery speed.
This means different paths for companies with different positioning.
For international brands such as Norgren and Parker, technical barriers to extreme working conditions are still valid.
No one can replace the data and experience accumulated in the fields of energy, chemical industry, and heavy-load handling in the short term.
Their market is in high-end workstations. They are not large in size but have a wide moat.
For domestic mid-to-high-end companies such as Xingchen Pneumatic, the biggest opportunities lie in conventional work stations.
This is the range with the largest usage, and it is also the range with the most ambiguous brand premium in the past.
When the technological gap is narrowed to the point where users cannot perceive it, “soft power” such as price, warranty, and delivery will become hard bargaining chips.
For equipment manufacturers, the question that needs to be rethought is: How many pneumatic brands should a production line have?
The answer is changing from “one” to “two or three.”
Put one at the key workstation, one at the regular workstation, and maybe add one specifically for the scene in between.
This change may not sound big, but it will have a profound impact on the adjustment of the entire supply chain system.
Conclusion
35 billion is not the end.
The industry is shifting from “equipment popularization driven” to “stock optimization driven”.
In this shift, whoever can adapt to the new distribution logic faster will get the ticket for the next five years.
This judgment does not require complex analysis.
Go to the workshop and look at the equipment manufacturer’s new BOM, and you’ll know everything.
