Tyco’s AI-related revenue doubled, with industrial solutions performing well. Amphenol’s communication solutions drove a 21% sales increase, with AI-driven related orders surging 37%. Aptiv won $31 billion in new orders and strategically split its EDS business to focus on high-growth areas.
It is worth noting that the three giants, Tyco, Amphenol and Aptiv, have formed a solid leading camp.
According to a report by Bishop & Associates, the top three global connector sales in 2023 will be Tyco, Amphenol and Aptiv.
“International Cable & Connection” magazine analyzed the financial report data of the three giants and found that under the dual challenges of pressure on traditional business and explosion of emerging demand, corporate strategies have shown significant differentiation.
This differentiation not only reveals the future development trends and potential opportunities of the industry, but also points out the competitive direction for enterprises.
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Sales for the quarter were $3.84 billion, the same as last year. Operating income was $690 million, down 1.14% year-on-year. Net profit was 528 million yuan, down 71% year-on-year. (In fiscal year 2024, Tyco achieved sales of $15.8 billion) -
Free cash flow was $674 million in the quarter, up 18% year-over-year. -
Acquired Harger, a North American leader in lightning protection and grounding solutions 
Tyco revealed that the order volume for this quarter was US$4 billion, which increased both year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter. This was mainly due to the extensive growth in the industrial field, including the development of artificial intelligence projects. However, it did not indicate the main reason for the decline in net profit this quarter.
From the perspective of the two major business segments of transportation solutions and industrial solutions:
Traffic solutions:
In this quarter, sales of transportation solutions were US$2.243 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 6%, and operating income was RMB 446 million, a year-on-year decrease of 8%.
Tyco said its automotive business performed in line with expectations, but performance in the commercial transportation and sensor end markets was weak.
However, Tyco remains confident in its transportation solutions. Tyco revealed that it has cooperated with a leading Chinese automaker and won a new design contract worth more than $1 billion for the next-generation platform, which is built around vehicle data connectivity.
Tyco predicts that global automobile production will decline by 1%-2% in fiscal 2025. However, hybrid and electric vehicle production will continue to grow, with the Asian market playing an important role. The trend of vehicle electrification is becoming more and more obvious, and software-defined vehicle architecture will drive growth. 48V voltage will be introduced into vehicles.
Industrial Solutions:In the quarter, industrial solutions sales were $1.593 billion, up 11% year-on-year, and operating income was $244 million, up 16% year-on-year. Orders in the industrial sector increased 15% quarter-on-quarter. Specifically, AI-related revenue doubled this quarter. Tyco said that last year, AI-related revenue reached $300 million. In the future, AI-related revenue is expected to exceed $600 million.
Commercial aerospace, defense and space applications showed broad growth, but the automation sector and medical business performed relatively weakly.
Overall, Tyco’s strong growth in industrial solutions and artificial intelligence provided strong support for the overall performance. Although the transportation solutions business faced some challenges, the company’s layout in the Asian market and opportunities in the vehicle electrification trend provide potential for future growth.
In terms of performance expectations, in the second quarter of fiscal 2025, Tyco expects sales to be approximately US$3.95 billion.
02 Amphenol:Communications Solutions Drives Full-Year Growth in Exceeding Double Digits Amphenol released its full-year financial report for 2024: -
Full-year sales increased 21% year-on-year to $15.2 billion; operating income increased 23% year-on-year to $3.2 billion; and net profit increased 25% year-on-year to $2.4 billion. -
Driven by demand related to artificial intelligence or AI investment, Amphenol’s full-year order volume was US$16.835 billion, a year-on-year increase of 37%, and the order-to-bill ratio was 1.11:1. -
The company generated strong operating cash flow of $2.8 billion.
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Amphenol said full-year net sales growth benefited from favorable factors such as strong organic growth in its communications solutions segment.
The financial report shows that communication solutions accounted for 42% of the full-year net sales, reaching US$6.324 billion, a year-on-year increase of 29%; operating income was US$1.6 billion, and operating profit margin increased.
The IT data communications market accounted for 24% of full-year sales, and sales in this market grew by 57% for the year, thanks to continued growth in demand for products using AI applications.
In 2024, Amphenol launched the world’s first high-speed connector system EXAMAX2 ARK designed for immersion cooling applications, as well as the industry’s first QSFD-DD 224G solution. Judging from the financial report data, these innovative products have given Amphenol a good advantage in the AI market.
Amphenol expects capital expenditure levels to continue to increase in the first quarter of 2025 to support significant growth in the IT data communications market, especially related to AI applications.
At the same time, Amphenol expects sales in the first quarter of 2025 to be between $4 billion and $4.1 billion, an increase of 23%-26% over the same period last year.
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Full-year net sales were $19.7 billion, down 2% year-on-year; -
Operating income was US$1.842 billion, an increase of 18% year-on-year; -
Net profit was US$1.787 billion, down 39% year-on-year; -
Cash flow from operating activities for the full year was $2.446 billion.
Despite a decline in net profit, Aptiv achieved remarkable results in business expansion, successfully winning nearly US$31 billion in new business contracts.
Among them, the advanced safety and user experience booking amount was US$4.4 billion (the active safety part was US$2.7 billion), and the signal and power solution order amount reached US$26.4 billion (including US$8 billion engineering component group and US$18.4 billion distribution system business).
Across all product lines, new business in China reached a record high of 7 billion.
China is the world’s largest automobile market. According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the cumulative production and sales of automobiles in 2024 will reach 31.282 million and 31.436 million, respectively, up 3.7% and 4.5% year-on-year, ranking first in the world.
Among them, the production and sales volume of new energy vehicles reached 12.888 million and 12.866 million respectively, a significant increase of 34.4% and 35.5% year-on-year respectively.
When talking about Aptiv’s business layout in the Chinese automotive market, “software-defined vehicles” is an unavoidable topic. Relying on China’s strong supply chain, Aptiv has launched a mass-producible SDV localization solution.
At the beginning of 2024, Aptiv set a goal of 50% growth in its business in China over the next five years, and actively promoted a series of initiatives, such as increasing the number of technology research and development centers to three, investing 570 million yuan in a local intelligent driving company, and building a 2 billion yuan high-voltage connector factory.
In addition, Aptiv plans to spin off its electrical distribution systems (EDS) business to reduce its dependence on the more volatile automotive industry.
Judging from the business data, due to the reduction in automobile production plans of some OEMs in North America and Europe and two multinational joint ventures in China, in 2024, Aptiv’s sales of signal and power solutions were 13.983 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 3%, and its adjusted operating profit was 1.652 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 1%.
EDS estimates revenue of $8.3 billion and operating profit of $400 million in 2024. It was revealed that EDS’ adjusted growth rate fell by 5%, and high-voltage revenue fell by nearly 20%.
The full-year net sales of Advanced Security and User Experience were 5.791 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2%, and the adjusted operating profit was 714 million yuan, a significant year-on-year increase of 58%.
In comparison, advanced safety and user experience performed relatively well. Aptiv predicts that active safety technology will drive sales growth of more than $500 million, a high single-digit year-on-year increase.
In addition, Aptiv mentioned the adjustments in automobile production plans and cautious attitudes of some customers.
Therefore, by spinning off the EDS business, Aptiv can enhance its core competitiveness in areas such as advanced security and user experience, penetrate into adjacent markets, and gradually achieve diversified profitability.
Finally, in terms of performance expectations, Aptiv expects revenue of US$4.6-4.8 billion in the first quarter of 2025; full-year revenue is expected to be between US$19.6-20.4 billion.
summary
Market performance showed significant differentiation:
Amphenol achieved a 21% revenue growth, leading the growth rate, driven by communication solutions (accounting for 42% of sales) and AI-related demand;
Tyco and Aptiv have seen their revenue growth slow down due to the weakness of the traditional automotive market, but their layout in emerging fields such as AI and active safety technology has injected momentum into subsequent growth.
At present, the industry transformation has distinct characteristics. The electrification and intelligence of automobiles are driving technological iteration, and traditional business models are under pressure, while tracks such as AI and safety technology are creating structural opportunities.
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Focus on high-growth areas: Increase R&D investment in technologies such as AI servers, active safety and user experience; -
Deepen cooperation and integration: seize opportunities through strategic investment or technology alliance; -
Optimize business structure: divest low-profit businesses and strengthen high value-added segments (such as Aptiv’s spin-off of EDS).
In the ever-changing market environment, only companies that can accurately perceive trends and continuously innovate business models can remain invincible amid industry changes.
