From “selling complete devices” to “selling core chips”: Why are domestic sensor manufacturers turning upstream to build their own platforms?
2026-10-27
Over the past few years, discussions around domestic sensor substitution have followed a clear trajectory: domestic complete systems aim to match imported counterparts, demonstrating their superiority in accuracy, stability, and reliability under extreme operating conditions.
However, a more noteworthy shift is underway: some domestic manufacturers are no longer limiting themselves to assembling complete devices; instead, they are licensing their most critical, sensitive sensor cores separately to industry peers—such as sensor makers, module suppliers, and in-house R&D teams. Songnuomeng’s decision to launch its nanofilm pressure sensor core as an independent product is a prime example of this trend.
The ceiling of high-end competition lies not in the exterior, but in the core.
An industrial pressure sensor typically undergoes the following stages: upstream sensing elements and chips, signal conditioning and packaging calibration, and final assembly into a complete transmitter. It is ultimately deployed in end‑use applications such as oil and petrochemicals, nuclear power, construction machinery, and rail transit.
The sensor industry chain is tiered: the focus of competition is shifting upstream, toward the sensitive sensing elements. The closer one moves to the upstream end, the more critical it becomes in determining a product’s ultimate accuracy, long-term stability, and ability to withstand extreme operating conditions.
Downstream: Terminal Equipment and Operating Conditions
Oil and petrochemical drilling rigs, nuclear power units, construction machinery, rail transit systems, and new‑energy equipment all impose the most stringent requirements for reliability and consistency.
Midstream – Complete Instruments/Transmitter Finished Products
Structural design, packaging and calibration, signal conditioning, branding, and customer service; differentiation is primarily reflected in interface compatibility, calibration accuracy, delivery, and after-sales support.
Upstream: Key Competitive Points in Sensing Elements/Chips
Sensitive materials, elastomer design, thin-film deposition processes, and resistive‑pattern–atomic‑scale integration; these factors determine the physical limits of temperature drift, sensitivity, zero‑point stability, and resistance to high temperature and high pressure.
According to publicly available information on the Chinese Government Website, in the first half of 2025, China’s sensor market is expected to exceed RMB 200 billion, with industrial automation accounting for more than 35% of the total. However, longstanding weaknesses remain concentrated in the upstream segment: industry annual reports indicate that, aside from a small number of companies capable of independently designing and mass‑producing MEMS chips, most manufacturers rely on core upstream chips. High‑end MEMS and ASIC chips are still predominantly dominated by European, American, and Japanese suppliers, and the validation cycle for advanced products can extend up to two to three years.
The sensor’s accuracy, temperature drift, zero‑point stability, and resistance to high temperature and pressure are fundamentally limited by the sensing element material and thin‑film fabrication processes. The overall device architecture, calibration software, and after‑sales support can only be optimized within these constraints; they cannot transcend the material‑related performance ceiling. In high‑end applications, when it comes down to the wire, what matters is not the housing but the underlying platform.
Why is the center of competition beginning to shift upstream?
This shift in the center of gravity is no accident; it stems from the concurrent changes in three key variables.
First, operating conditions are being raised, while the performance ceiling is locked by the core. The high temperature and high pressure conditions on drilling rigs, the safety‑critical nature of nuclear power units, and the high‑frequency vibrations and corrosive environments encountered in construction machinery all demand far greater long‑term stability than typical applications. With the scope for differentiation across entire systems significantly narrowed, manufacturers naturally trace back to identify the root cause: is it calibration, packaging, or the underlying core component? The answer usually points to the latter.
Second, supply chain security has brought sovereignty to the forefront. Relying on imported chip cores for packaging over the long term means that profits and pricing power are siphoned off by upstream suppliers, while also exposing the company to risks of delivery delays and supply disruptions. Without its own proprietary chip cores, the specification definition, parameter iteration, and operational‑condition adaptation of high‑end products must all align with the upstream supplier’s roadmap.
Third, mature chip cores are beginning to possess independent supply‑chain value. Once materials, processes, and batch-to-batch consistency have been rigorously validated over the long term, a standardized sensing core is no longer confined to proprietary end‑products; it can also be licensed to third parties, thereby spreading R&D costs and unlocking a second growth trajectory. Over the past two years, leading companies have broadly strengthened their chip platforms through in‑house development or strategic acquisitions, and several domestic manufacturers have already achieved mass production of nano‑membrane‑based sensing cores, making vertical integration a common strategy.
SunnoMeng’s next step: from a “finished-product supplier” to a “core-component supplier.”
Songnuo Alliance is a manufacturer of nano‑thin‑film sensors, with its primary customers being end‑device manufacturers. Its deliverables include complete devices and transmitters. By launching the nano‑thin‑film pressure sensing element as an independent product, the company has taken on an additional role: that of a core component supplier, directly providing to peer sensor manufacturers, module makers, and in‑house R&D teams.
The foundation underpinning this advancement is nanofilm technology. The sensing element employs vacuum atomic-layer deposition to directly grow a nano‑strain‑gauge resistor onto a metallic elastomer, achieving atomic‑scale bonding and structurally eliminating the zero‑point drift, aging, and reduced reliability that typically arise in conventional adhesive‑based approaches due to interfacial slippage under mechanical stress.
The core’s sensitivity is approximately four times higher than that of conventional elastic steel, and its temperature‑drift coefficient has been reduced to about one‑hundredth of the original level, enabling operation in high‑temperature environments up to 400°C. Relevant products have already undergone large‑scale validation in applications such as the petroleum and petrochemical industries, nuclear power, and construction machinery.
END
Competition in the high-end sensor market is shifting from the system‑level to the upstream sensing‑element level. In the first half of the domestic substitution journey, the focus was on answering the question “do we have it?”; in the second half, the real contest will be who can secure a robust performance foundation. While systems can be benchmarked and housings can be made up for, materials, manufacturing processes, and operational‑condition validation all require time to mature—making this the most challenging yet most valuable segment for domestic manufacturers as they move upstream.
Songnuomeng’s nano‑thin‑film pressure sensing elements are now available for supply to sensor manufacturers, module producers, and in‑house R&D teams. If you wish to evaluate an independent sensor‑element solution, please provide your operating‑condition requirements (e.g., process medium, temperature, pressure range, protection specifications), and our technical team will coordinate with you to identify the most suitable match.
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