Energy-saving power management components are gaining popularity

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Energy-saving power management components are gaining popularity [Copy link]

Despite a quarterly sales decline, International Rectifier (IR) reported higher margins and increased business in the new power management component market. Alex Lidow, chairman, president and CEO of IR, told EE Times after the earnings announcement that the company's business in the energy-saving field grew 58%.
IR's sales fell in the quarter ended March 31 because of "inventory digestion", while annual sales increased due to demand for its products in lighting ballasts and white goods. "These products save a lot of energy," Lidow said. White goods manufacturers such as Whirlpool, Sanyo, Philips and China's Midea use IR's products.
Lidow said about a third of IR's business is energy-saving products. About half of that is in the IT field, and the rest is "high reliability" products for industrial and automotive applications.
In addition to the increase in business in the IT field, Lidow is happy about the construction of WiMAX broadband infrastructure. "WiFi is just getting started," Lidow said. WiMAX will be a bigger driving force than PCs to change hardware. He believes that the next generation of TVs, set-top box controllers, personal video recorders and DVDs will all require new power management components.
Lidow said that with the help of design wins in WiMAX, IR will achieve a 50% gross profit margin by June 2006.