Status of the Power Electronics Industry

Introduction

POWER ELECTRONICS: A $20 BILLION DEVICES MARKET WITH 4 MAIN SEMICONDUCTOR TECHNOLOGIES

Market volume for Si, Si+epi and SOI substrates in Power Electronics

Overall power electronics wafers market estimation: 2010- 2020

In 2012, the market for semiconductor devices (discrete, modules and ICs) dedicated to the power electronics industry will reach $20 billion. With applications as diversified as hybrid cars, PV inverters, lighting, energy, and voltage ranging from a few volts to a few thousands volts, power electronics is and will remain one of the most attractive branches of the semiconductor industry over the next decade.

In this report, Yole Développement provides a complete breakdown of 1) market forecasts and player shares depending on the application, 2) the voltage range and the geography for power discrete and modules, and 3) wafers used for power semiconductor device manufacturing.

The power electronics industry now deals with conversion and motion, and thus requires lighter/smaller, cheaper and more efficient systems. This evolution starts with improvements at the semiconductor level, and there are four technologies which are best suited to handle new system requirements: silicon IGBT, Super Junction (SJ) MOSFETs, Gallium Nitride (GaN) and Silicon Carbide (SiC)-based devices.

Already well established in the market, IGBTs account for $1.6 billion in the medium to high voltage sector. In this report, we describe a trend towards decreasing voltage range in order to target consumer applications such as TVs, computer adapters and cameras, in order to access more segments. At the same time, SJ MOSFETs present in these applications offer faster switching frequencies and competitive cost. We estimate the SJ MOSFET market will reach $567 million by the end of the year.

GaN and SiC also have a chance to outdo silicon performance and enhance inverter capabilities. However, materials are still expensive and the technology is not yet ready. On the other hand, both of these materials can benefit from their developed status in the LED industry, and we have seen plenty of LED players paying attention to the opportunity that power electronics represent.

EACH TECHNOLOGY FACES STRONG DEVELOPMENTS...

In this report, Yole Développement clearly identifies the uses for these four main technologies. Nevertheless, all of them still struggle to bring ideal solutions for every application at every power/voltage range.

There are two consequences:

• GaN and SiC are not mature yet for the power electronics market: the first one requires technological enhancement of the manufacturing process, especially for epitaxy thickness, and the second one is an expensive material that does not allow implementation within consumer-like businesses.
• A segmentation between technology and the power/voltage range will take place, and some segments will only accept one « best » technology.

2015 Technology Positioning Forecast

Technology positioning depending on voltage range and system value requirements

........AND EACH TECHNOLOGY HAS A PARTICULAR INDUSTRY STRUCTURE

While SJ MOSFETs see new players and foundry service suppliers, the IGBT dies' industry is getting consolidated by the presence of large players involved in many applications, such as Infineon, Mitsubishi Electric and Fuji. However, IGBT (and SJ MOSFET) modules business is increasing and we see new players entering to provide solutions for cooling, interconnections, substrates, packaging, and gel.

On the other hand, the SiC industry, which has been led by CREE, is now an interesting playground for newplayers. With access to lower cost material, the SiC industry now has the possibility to ramp up and get organized. However, apart from the PFC business, technological capabilities of SiC show that it will surely be dedicated to high power/voltage applications. Last but not least, SiC companies have appeared in China, which will definitely provide competition and tougher access to local markets.

At this point in time, the GaN industry is mostly a US business. International Rectifier, EPC, Transphorm, Microsemi or GaN Systems now propose fully off-the-shelf or customized products. However, some pioneers like MicroGaN, NEC or Powdec, are showing there is a trend to globalize the GaN manufacturing industry. At the same time, the market is still soft and LED players are considering using their technological platform to enter this power electronics market, which will be very much low power/voltage oriented.

In this report, Yole describes how each industry is doing, how they interact between each other and how they will evolve in the future, and what type of market we will see. In addition, supply chain questions and how business will be segmented are answered. The power electronics industry has great growth potential, mostly driven by energy (production, distribution, consumption) which is open and accessible, even for small players.

Extract of analysis providing interaction between the power GaN industry and other related industries which led semiconductor players to enter the power GaN business

Similar analysis is done for SiC, SJ MOSFETs and IGBTs industries

TECHNOLOGICAL & COST REQUIREMENTS IMPOSED ON POWER SEMICONDUCTORS ARE DRIVEN BY THE INVERTER INDUSTRY

Because power semiconductors are “just a piece” of the power electronics industry, the power semiconductor industry has to answer requirements from a bigger system: the inverter. For example, some expensive solutions are still not implemented, even if device and module performance are much higher than current output.

Yole Développement provides an analysis of the inverter market and players, as well as the industry evolution, in order to illustrate the role of power semiconductors and analyze which drivers will be key for which applications.

In addition, this report underlines the expected technical developments of an inverter - depending on the applications - and how power semiconductors will contribute to these improvements. Indeed, power devices ameliorations will be useful only if they fit with passive and connective devices, defined by inverter needs.

Geographical positioning is also critical in the power electronics area, especially with the boom in China and other emerging countries, but also because several applications (PV, wind, electric vehicles) are supported by local governments.

Yole Développement provides a geographical and supply chain analysis for the power electronics industry, from semiconductors and passive devices to inverter levels.

Supply chain integration and diversification

WHO SHOULD BUY THIS REPORT?

• Power device manufacturers
• Power module makers
• Other semiconductor players
• Material and substrate suppliers
• Power device manufacturing foundry services
• Inverter manufacturers
• Investors
• R&D laboratories

COMPANIES CITED IN THE REPORT

ABB, AIST, APEI, Ascatron, BeMiTec, Bridgestone, BYD, CREE, Denso, Dow Corning, EPC, Fairchild, Fuji Electric, Furukawa Electric, GaN Systems, GeneSiC, Hitachi, Infineon, International Rectifier, Intersil, IXYS, LG Electronics, MACMIC, MicroGaN, Microsemi, Mitsubishi Electric, Nitek, NTT, NXP, ON Semiconductor, Panasonice, Powdec, Powerex, Renesas, Rohm, Samsung Electronics, Sanken, SanRex, Semikron, Semikron, Semisouth, Shindengen, SiRectifier, ST Microelectronics, Starpower, Sumitomo SEI, Toshiba, Toyota, Transphorm, Velox, Vincotech, Vishay,...

Brice Le Gouic is a full-time analyst in charge of the Power Electronics department at Yole Développement, and has performed several market research and technology analyses in power electronics.

He has a Master's degree in Electronic Engineering, with a major in Microelectronics, from the Applied Sciences National Institute (INSA) of Toulouse, France.

Beginning in 1998 with Yole Développement, we have grown to become a group of companies providing market research, technology analysis, strategy consulting, media in addition to finance services. With a solid focus on emerging applications using silicon and/or micro manufacturing Yole Développement group has expanded to include more than 40 associates worldwide covering MEMS, Microfluidics & Medical, Advanced Packaging, Compound Semiconductors, Power Electronics, LED, and Photovoltaic. The group supports companies, investors and R&D organizations worldwide to help them understand markets and follow technology trends to develop their business.

Table of Contents

• Executive summary

• Introduction
  • Glossary
  • What is in this report?
  • Who should be interested in this report
  • What are power electronics used for?
  • Inverter description
  • 4 main technologies introduction

• Power electronics market: devices and wafers
  • Introduction
  • Power electronics industry status
    • Today's status
    • Challenges
    • Market and drivers
    • Power electronics value chain
  • Market forecasts
    • Overall power electronics
    • Wafers market

• Innovation and disruptive power electronics
  • Focus on IGBT market
  • Focus on SJ MOSFETs market
  • Focus on SiC market
  • Focus on GaN market
  • Conclusions
  • Technologies and industries
    • IGBT
    • IGBT technology
    • Industry and market outlook
    • SJ MOSFETs
    • SJ MOSFETs technology
    • Industry and market outlook
    • SiC FETs
    • SiC Technology: discrete device & power module
    • Industry and players
    • GaN HFETs
    • Technological developments
    • Industry and players
  • Materials
    • Manufacturing price
    • Power electronics substrates market
    • Cycle-time from R&D to mass production

• Inverters market
  • Market overview
    • Inverter market
    • Value chain
  • Market driver and applications specifications
  • Inverter architecture trends
    • Architecture cost
    • Power density

• Power electronics supply chain
  • Introduction
  • Overview
    • Upfront integration
    • Vertical integration
  • Global perspective

• General conclusions

• Yole in power electronics
  • Other reports
  • Team

Status of the Power Electronics Industry published by Yole Developpement in August 31, 2012. This report price starts from US $ 5390.