news review
SiC and GaN to boost power electronics market to $15 billion
THANKS to a resurgence in innovation, power electronics revenues are poised to grow to $15 billion for discrete components in four key industry segments in 2020. It’s also moving beyond its historic dependence on silicon, with significant developments in SiC and GaN technology. According to Lux Research’s new report, “Beyond Silicon: Plotting GaN and SiC’s Path within the $15 Billion Power Electronics Market,” these materials are taking a 22% market share for $3.3 billion in power electronics sales.
“There’s clearly a growing opportunity in power electronics, but the challenge for both current market players and would-be entrants is finding the places where these emerging technologies meet customer needs at the right price points,” notes Pallavi Madakasira, Lux Research Analyst and lead author of the report. “While consumer electronics is a ‘here and now’ opportunity, fast-growing industries such
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as renewable energy and industrial power applications are likely to challenge power electronics manufacturers to innovate on form factor and improve efficiency at the lowest cost.”
SiC and GaN are vieing for a slice of the silicon pie. With silicon-based power electronic devices reaching theoretical limits, other semiconductors, notably SiC and GaN, are making inroads into the power electronics industry.
These materials promise better performance and energy savings, and in SiC will gain a 14% market share and in GaN, an 8% share. SiC, with its better maturity and reliability, has a head start, but GaN catches up thanks to innovators such as Efficient Power Conversion and Transphorm and incumbents like International Rectifier.
SiC gains the most in renewables,
capturing a 32% market share in solar, and is poised to capitalise on the grid storage boom. Its adoption in transportation is less aggressive, leading SiC and GaN to a relatively even share, at 16% and 15%, respectively, in 2020. GaN eclipses SiC in IT & electronics, carving out 14% share in 2020; and flourishes in smaller-scale applications within buildings in a broad $2.4 billion market.
Over the past five years, investors have funnelled over $200 million into developers of advanced materials and devices for power electronics. On the venture side, Transphorm, EpiGaN, GaN Systems and Azzurro have closed notable rounds, while corporate investments and acquisitions such as TranSiC (Fairchild), SiCed (Infineon), SiCrystal (Rohm) and Crysband (SKC) have continued apace. This year promises to be a record-setting one for transactions with particular attention on substrate and GaN technology developers.
LED equipment and substrate market to decline in 2012
After two years of explosive revenue growth, the LED market appears to be slowing down. The Strategy Analytics report, “Compound Semiconductor Industry Review January 2012: Optoelectronics, Materials and Equipment” predicts that equipment spending and epitaxial substrate demand in the LED sector will decline in 2012.
This validates recent announcements from equipment manufacturers, like Aixtron, that substantial funding from Asian governments has been masking inherent softness in LED demand. The report also captures announcements for companies such as Soitec, Sumitomo Electric, AXT, IQE, Oclaro, Cree, Renesas Electronics, GigOptix, Avago Technologies, JDSU, Lumileds and First Solar.
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www.compoundsemiconductor.net April / May 2012
“The LED industry has grown in cycles,” observes Eric Higham, Director of the Strategy Analytics GaAs and Compound Semiconductor Technologies Service. “The first phase involved backlighting for small consumer devices, like mobile handsets. These solutions have evolved to meet the needs of laptop, television, electronic sign and automotive applications and the next wave for LED adoption appears to be commercial and residential lighting.”
Asif Anwar, Director, Strategy Analytics Strategic Technologies Practice adds, “Despite a slowdown in demand, companies are hard at work developing products that improve the performance and cost of devices in preparation for the next wave of LED adoption.”
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