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ollowing an extremely tough time during the global recession, 2010 was an outstanding year for semiconductor manufacturers, with many reporting the highest growth they had seen for a decade. The global semiconductor industry grew by over 30% and recovery occurred in all major market sectors. Now into the first quarter of 2011, most of the capacity shortages seen in 2010 seem to have been resolved and inventories are being replenished. The key question now is whether market growth can be sustained and how it will differ by semiconductor product type. Below are IMS Research's top five predictions for the major power markets:Digital Power
Digital control and management continues to be adopted in both OEM/on-board applications and, increasingly, in merchant power supplies. The digital controller and converter market is projected to grow at over 30% annually to 2015, to almost $600 million. Long-term growth of digital power will inevitably impair the markets for analog power semiconductors, most notably analog switching controllers and regulators and, to a lesser extent, other controller ICs such as those for power factor correction (PFC).
The Universal Mobile Phone Charger
The international universal charger initiative (EN 62684), scheduled to commence in 2012, is predicted to drive changes in charger re-use and shipping, which could severely affect the charger market. If the universal charging solution drives manufacturers and operators to stop shipping chargers with their mobile phones, IMS Research predicts a decline of 25% in the mobile phone charger market in 2015.
Increasing Power Content
Within a product range, demand for models with a more complex design or more power components is currently driving growth in the power market. A good example is the mobile handset. Smartphones currently account for less than 20% of all mobile phones shipped, though this percentage is projected to double over the next 5 years. Smartphones often have a bigger display, multiple processors, and complicated circuitry which demand more complex and more expensive components. This is forecast to play a large part in driving a total power IC market for mobile phones close to $1.5 billion in 2015 (to over 10% of the total power IC market).
Emerging/Fast Adoption Applications
The explosive growth seen for tablets PCs such as the Apple iPad, and for eBook readers, is predicted to continue in the medium term. There are other emerging markets, such as wireless power, for which a low-power standard "Qi" was released during 2010. Over one billion devices are forecast to be enabled with the option to re-charge using wireless power in the next decade. Opportunities will exist for power semiconductor and power supply manufacturers amongst others. Other emerging power markets with opportunities for suppliers include renewable energy, and hybrid and electric vehicles.
Efficiency
Efficiency continues to be a key driver for the power component markets. More power-efficient designs often are more complex and require more expensive components. Power-efficient designs are now also driving a market for semiconductors manufactured from materials with superior properties to silicon, notably silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN). IMS Research predicts that the market for power devices made from these two materials will more than double in 2011 and be worth close to $1 billion in 2015.
Provided by Ryan Sanderson,
Senior Research Analyst,
IMS Research’s Power & Energy Group |
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