Objectives of the report 5

Scope of the report 6

What we got right,  what we got wrong 20

Three page summary 21

Executive summary 25

Context  62        

Market forecasts  76

• Overall power electronics market
• Wafer and power device market forecasts
• Power MOSFET and Power IGBT markets
• SiC and GaN market share
• Global discrete, IGBT module, global module markes
• Discrete packaging materials market and inverter market

Market trends 104

• Market trends, by market
• Focus on fab capacity

Market share and supply chain  144

• Key power electronics players
• Power electronics landscape
• Supply chain analysis and  power device revenue rankings
• Silicon wafer landscape and market share
• Power MOSFET, discrete and module IGBT market share
• Packaging supply chain and players including main materials players

Supply chain reshaping 154

• Power electronics supply chain development
• EV/HEV reshaping the automotive supply chain
• Focus on power modules
• New entrants into power module markets
• Packaging players: discrete power devices vs. power modules
• Focus on power module packaging

Mergers and acquisitions  164

• Wafer, device, module and system levels
• Other power electronics components, passives, materials, batteries, etc.
• EV/HEV partnerships and joint ventures

COVID-19 Crisis’s Impact on the Power Electronics Industry  175

• Impact of COVID-19 on our forecasts
• Geographic supply chain re-organization

Focus on China 182

Technology trends 198

• Choice of semiconductor materials and new device designs
• Power device packaging
• Wide Bandgap
• EV charging solutions
• Batteries and power electronics

Take-away and outlook 277

• Conclusions/take-aways
• Things to watch closely in the future

Yole corporate presentationn 285

THE POWER ELECTRONIC MARKET IS POISED TO GROW, WITH AUTOMOTIVE APPLICATIONS AS THE STRONGEST DRIVER

The global power electronics market accounts for $17.5B, with a 4.3% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) from 2019-2025. Within this market, we can differentiate three different major driving components: IGBT modules, silicon MOSFETs and SiC devices.

Today, the largest share of the power device market is for silicon MOSFET devices, which accounts for 45% of the total value. The major application segments for silicon MOSFETs are automotive, portable & wireless, computing & storage and industrial. They are pushed by needs for higher efficiency and increasing global communications. Despite the decrease of automotive and consumer end-system sales due to COVID-19 in the first half of 2020, there is an expected CAGR 2019-2025 of 1.4%.

IGBT modules, which represent $3.7B in 2019, are traditionally used in applications such as industrial or renewable energy converters. As shown in the report, these applications are today driven by efficiency regulations or increase of clean energy goals, and they account for 46% of the total IGBT module market. Nevertheless, the key application for power IGBT modules is undoubtedly EV/HEV, with an expected growth of 18% from 2019 to 2025, reaching $5.4B by 2025. Indeed, electric and hybrid electric vehicles (EV/HEVs) are being pushed by many countries, with subsidies to allow fast electrification of the passenger car fleet.

The SiC MOSFET market is also expected to be driven by EV/HEVs, as SiC-based modules keep being adopted by several players, such as Tesla and BYD, and competing directly with IGBT modules in the main inverter for more compact and efficient designs. Moreover, SiC discrete transistors are directly competing with Silicon MOSFETs in onboard charger (OBC) systems for higher efficiency systems.

CHINA’S NEW ROLE IN THE POWER ELECTRONICS INDUSTRY

China is the leader in systems for several power electronics applications segments. Chinese companies such as BYD, Huawei, CRRC and Sungrow are amongst the leading players worldwide. However, in power electronic device manufacturing, China still strongly depends on foreign suppliers, which include Infineon, Fuji Electric and Mitsubishi Electric. Chinese power semiconductor companies and the Chinese government are trying hard to change this situation in favour of domestic production of power electronic devices. Local players want to expand their manufacturing capacities in order to capture more added value in local markets and conquer new markets abroad. For example, Wingtech raised $818 million for Nexperia China to introduce high-power MOSFET production line, for both semiconductor and packaging. Other new local companies are directly building 300mm foundries with power discrete and power integrated circuit (IC) capabilities like HHGrace or SiEn. There are growing trends for big Chinese companies to go public, such as CR Micro or BYD Semiconductor. According to Yole Développement’s (Yole) analysis, these companies have achieved a “mature and consolidated” status and they want to further expand, so an initial public offering (IPO) is a good way to raise money relatively quickly. US-China technology and trade wars are giving more momentum to develop domestic manufacturing. Nevertheless, these US-China tensions have not impacted all power electronics segments in the same way. For instance, it is more critical to buy/sell components for defense and telecom market segments compared to motor drives. Some of the semiconductor manufacturers have not felt the difference before and after the trade. Although some leading power electronic players from outside of China are sceptical about China’s capability to develop and master challenging power electronic device technologies, China has shown in the past that it is able to overcome very difficult challenges.

SUPPLY CHAIN RESHAPING WILL CONTINUE

Leading power electronics companies are big companies with revenues in the billion dollar range. Although big players continue to grow, the position of the top players is unlikely to change significantly. According to Yole’s analysts, the positions on the lower stages of the revenues ranking are expected to continue to move in the coming years. What are the key drivers for such a reshaping of the supply chain? One reason is that mergers and acquisitions enable access to new technology/product portfolios, enlarge customer portfolios, give access to new geographical markets and reduce the R&D expenses.

Another reason is technology evolution, especially growing adoption of wide-bandgap materials like SiC and GaN, and new applications such as e-mobility including EV/HEV, but also electric trucks and buses, and charging infrastructure. Actually, those players that take a risk by investing heavily in emerging technology approaches and focus on rapidly growing new technology and application segments can boost their market position whilst their competitors remain focused on their key technologies and markets.

The power electronics industry did not show any significant technology breakthrough in recent months, but the technology trends observed in the past have been confirmed. There is a continuous adoption of SiC and GaN technologies on the die level, increasing shares of silver sintering, Si₃N₄ Active Metal Brazing (AMB) ceramic substrate and epoxy molding on the device packaging level, and increasing voltage and power on the converter level. High R&D efforts have been mainly made in power packaging and in SiC technology areas.

ABB, Alpha and Omega Semiconductor (AOS), Amkor, Analog Devices, ASE Group, Bosch, BYD, Cree, CRRC, Danfoss, Denso, Dialog Semiconductor, Episil, EXAGAN, Fuji Electric, GaN Systems, General Electric, Global Wafers, Hitachi, Huawei, Infineon, Ingeteam, LEM, Littelfuse, MacMic, Magnachip, Maxim Integrated, Microchip, Mitsubishi Electric, Monolithic Power Systems, Navitas, Nexperia, NXP, Okmetic, ON Semiconductor, Panasonic, Powerex, Power Integrations, Qualcomm, Renesas, Rohm, Sanken, Semikron, Shindengen, ShinEtsu, Siemens, Silan Microelectronics, Silego Technology, Siltronic, Sino-Microelectronics, Soitec, STMicroelectronics, StarPower, Sumco, Sungrow, Tamura, TDK, Tesla Motors, Texas Instruments, Toshiba, Toyota, Transphorm, UnitedSiC, UTAC, Valeo, Vishay, Volkswagen, and more.