Power semiconductor market firing on all cylinders
According to the market watchers, global power semiconductor revenues increased by 3.9% in 2016, reversing a 4.8% decline in the previous year. IHS Markit divides the market into three categories – discretes, modules, and integrated circuits. Of these three, discretes showed the biggest jump.
Particularly strong was the development in the automotive and industrial segments – automotive customers bought 7.0% more power semiconductor than in the previous year. Here, Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) fared extremely well as a result of the “democratizing” trend for such features – carmakers tend to equip mid-level vehicles with such features whereas they previously were reserved for the luxury class. This trend leads to much higher unit sales.
Likewise, the hybridization of the powertrain left traces in the sales figures: The market researchers observed sharp gains for power modules and power discretes as the number of vehicles equipped with inverter systems for hybrid (including micro hybrid) powertrains increased. A typical feature of such powertrains are advanced stop/start capabilities which requires extensive use of power semiconductors. Power modules for cars and light trucks for this reason made a jump of 29.3 % in 2016.
With a growth of 5.0%, also the industrial segment was about average. In the broad industrial sector, the drive for energy efficiency improvement led to growth in renewable energy (solar and wind inverters), building and home control, and factory automation applications.
Revenues from home appliances in the consumer segment also grew nicely as advanced motor control systems found their way into white goods, fans, kitchen, and cleaning products.
Despite good gains, other categories were flat to down. Power module sales for industrial motor drives, a large sub-segment, slid 1.1 % and modules for traction applications were down 17.5 % for the year. Power ICs for consumer application declined 4.9 % while power discretes for lighting applications were off 2.7 %.
Nevertheless, the positive outlook is going to continue, the market researchers believe. “The industry megatrends of vehicle electrification, advanced vehicle safety, energy efficiency and connected everything will continue to drive growth over the next five years,” said Kevin Anderson, senior analyst, power management for IHS Markit. “We predict that the compound-average annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2016 – 2021 will be 4.8 %. Regionally, the highest growth is projected in China, at 6.0 % CAGR, followed closely by the rest of Asia including Taiwan, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and the Americas – all with projected growth over 5 %.”
The latest release of the IHS Markit Power Semiconductor Forecast Report 2017 can be found here
If you enjoyed this article, you will like the following ones: don't miss them by subscribing to :
