Power device market dominated by Europe, America and Japan
Latest update time：2020-11-07
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In recent years, the call for the Internet of Everything has become louder and louder. Transportation, new energy, communication equipment, and consumer products are all continuously improving their electronic level, among which the high degree of electronicization of new energy vehicles is the most eye-catching; at the same time, traditional industries such as industry and power grid are also accelerating the process of electronicization. The electronic development of almost all industries has greatly increased the demand for power semiconductor devices.
According to forecasts from Infineon Technologies and IHS, sales of all types of electric vehicles are expected to increase from less than 5 million in 2018 to nearly 60 million in 2030, an increase of more than 10 times, driving the rapid development of the automotive power semiconductor market.
Global new energy vehicle sales forecast (million units) Data source: Infineon, IHS, Automotive Group, Orient Securities Research Institute
Introduction to Power Semiconductors
Power semiconductor devices refer specifically to power semiconductor devices that convert and control electricity. Power conversion includes converting one or more voltages, currents, or frequencies; power control refers to controlling the power size of input and output.
In general, power semiconductor devices are mainly divided into three categories: power modules, power integrated circuits (PowerIC, abbreviated as PIC, also known as power IC) and discrete devices; among them, the power module is a modular package of multiple discrete power semiconductor devices; the power IC corresponds to the integration of discrete power semiconductor devices with peripheral circuits such as drive/control/protection/interface/monitoring; and discrete power semiconductor devices are the key to power modules and power ICs.
Power semiconductor devices have gradually developed from simple diodes in the early days to high performance and integration. Since the 1980s, power semiconductor devices MOSFET, IGBT and power integrated circuits have gradually become mainstream application types. Among them, IGBT has undergone seven technical evolutions, including device vertical structure, gate structure and silicon wafer processing technology. The current voltage withstand capability has jumped from 3000V in the fourth generation to 6500V in the seventh generation, and high-frequency (10-100kHz) applications have been achieved.
At present, the global power semiconductor devices are mainly provided by three countries and regions: Europe, the United States, and Japan. With advanced technology, production and manufacturing processes, and leading quality management systems, they occupy about 60% of the global market share. Infineon and STMicroelectronics are not only representative companies in Europe, but also among the best in the world; the United States has ON Semiconductor, Vishay, Littelfuse and others to make a name for themselves; Japan is also a major player in power semiconductor devices, with Renesas, Toshiba, Fuji Electric, and Rohm being world-renowned.
Specifically, let's look at the operating conditions of major power semiconductor manufacturers. According to Yole's survey, the sales rankings of various manufacturers in the power semiconductor market (discrete components and modules) in 2019 are as follows:
European manufacturers who are stable
First, let's look at the top three, Infineon, ON Semiconductor and STMicroelectronics. European manufacturers occupy two positions. In the semiconductor industry, which has undergone many changes in the past two years, the European semiconductor industry has always been in a relatively stable situation. Infineon and ST have little fluctuation in revenue and global ranking compared to American and Asian manufacturers. However, in the field of power semiconductors, European semiconductor manufacturers are still very strong.
Infineon Technologies
Germany's Infineon Technologies is in an absolute leading position. According to data from IHS Market, Infineon's power semiconductor business had a market share of 19.9% in 2018, and this part of the business also accounted for 68% of the company's total revenue. According to statistics from the Zhongtai Electronics team, since 2003, the compound annual growth rate of power semiconductors has been 4.2%, and the compound annual growth rate of Infineon's power semiconductor revenue has been 11.0%, which is much higher than the industry average, and its market share continues to grow. Infineon also stated at its IFX Day 2018 that the rapid growth of its power semiconductor business has driven the overall growth of the group's revenue.
On April 16, Infineon announced the completion of its acquisition of Cypress Semiconductor. Cypress, headquartered in San Jose, will be officially merged into Infineon from now on. After the acquisition is completed, Infineon will become one of the top ten semiconductor manufacturers in the world. In the market segment, Infineon will not only continue to maintain its global leadership in power semiconductors and safety controllers, but will also become the world's number one automotive semiconductor supplier.
STMicroelectronics
The third place is STMicroelectronics, which is one of the three largest semiconductor manufacturers in Europe. It mainly produces MCUs, analog chips and power conversion chips, discrete devices, mobile phone camera modules and automotive integrated circuits.
In early March 2020, STMicroelectronics announced that it had signed a merger agreement to acquire a majority stake in Exagan, a French gallium nitride (GaN) innovation company. Exagan's epitaxial process, product development and application experience will broaden and advance STMicroelectronics' development plans and business for automotive, industrial and consumer power GaN. Exagan will continue to implement its existing product development plans, and STMicroelectronics will support its deployment of products.
In addition, in 2019, STMicroelectronics completed the overall acquisition of Swedish silicon carbide wafer manufacturer Norstel AB. After the business integration of STMicroelectronics and Norstel, the prospects for the entire silicon carbide industry are bright, which is also the direction of their future cooperation. According to relevant staff, 150mm silicon carbide bare wafers and epitaxial wafers 200mm wafers are the key research areas in the future to cope with the growing automotive and industrial markets.
Both companies plan to continue to expand production in the future (or have just expanded production). Take Infineon as an example. In February 2019, Infineon released its financial report, mentioning plans to expand outsourcing and build a new 12-inch power semiconductor plant. On February 5, US time this year, Infineon mentioned in its FY1Q20 financial report that they originally planned to temporarily close the Dresden, Germany and Kulin factories in Malaysia for two weeks before the New Year, but due to recent market changes, Infineon abandoned this plan. As a leader in the field of power semiconductors, Infineon's adjustment of its factory plans may imply that the spring of the power semiconductor market is coming.
In the top 15 ranking, there are two other companies: SEMIKRON (12th) and BOSCH (15th).
SEMIKRON is one of the world's leading power module and system manufacturers, with products mainly including IGBT, diodes, and thyristors. SEMIKRON's products are core components in modern energy-saving motor drives and industrial automation systems. Other application areas include power supplies, renewable energy (wind and solar power generation) and electric vehicles (private cars, vans, buses, trucks, forklifts, etc.). With SEMIKRON's innovative power electronics products, our customers can develop smaller and more energy-efficient power electronics systems. Such systems can also reduce global energy demand accordingly.
Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services. Its business is divided into four business areas, covering automotive and intelligent transportation technology, industrial technology, consumer products, and energy and building technology. As a global leading Internet of Things company, Bosch provides innovative solutions for smart homes, smart cities, connected transportation, and connected industries.
Bosch is also a semiconductor company. Bosch has three main categories of products in the semiconductor field. The first is MEMS, which is also the product with the largest shipment volume of Bosch at present. It includes inertial, angular velocity, and pressure sensors, which can be used in the consumer and automotive fields. The second is integrated circuits, which is what we call IC (integrated circuit) or ASICS, which are dedicated system chips and sensors used in specific automotive applications. So far, this part of the products is mainly used internally; the third is power semiconductors, which include traditional silicon-based IGBTs and silicon carbide power semiconductors. The former is mainly packaged into system products for external sales, while the latter is planned to be sold directly to the outside world.
Bosch officially announced the launch of silicon carbide-related business in October 2019 and built an automotive-grade production line in Reutlingen, Germany. It is expected that bare chips will be available at the end of 2021, and discrete device MOSFETs will probably be available in early 2022. Both products will be matched based on customer needs.
Powerful American Manufacturers
Another strong player in the field of power semiconductors is the American manufacturers. From the perspective of market competition, the United States is in a leading position in the world in power devices and has a number of manufacturers with global influence, such as ON Semiconductor, Vishay,
littelfuse,
Diodes
,
AOS and other manufacturers.
ON Semiconductor
ON Semicondsuctor, ranked second, is a leading semiconductor supplier that provides a comprehensive range of power devices, including discrete devices such as MOSFET, IGBT, diodes, wide bandgap (WBG), and power modules such as intelligent (IPM). Especially after the acquisition of Fairchild Semiconductor, it has become the world's second largest supplier of power discrete semiconductor devices. It has unparalleled advantages in the IGBT field, providing best-in-class IGBT technology and the broadest IGBT product lineup.
On April 22, 2019, ON Semiconductor and GLOBALFOUNDRIES jointly announced that the two parties have reached a final acquisition agreement for ON Semiconductor to acquire GLOBALFOUNDRIES' 300mm wafer factory in East Fishkill, New York (GF's internal number Fab 10). With advanced CMOS capabilities, it will improve the production quality of MOSFET and IGBT.
Vishay
Vishay ranked fourth and is a leading global manufacturer and supplier of discrete semiconductors and passive components. Founded in 1962, Vishay began operating with foil resistors and foil resistor strain gauges as its initial product line. In 1985, Vishay began a series of strategic acquisitions to make itself a manufacturer that can provide a wide range of electronic components.
Vishay produces a wide range of discrete semiconductor devices. These products typically perform a single function, such as switching, amplifying, rectifying, or transmitting electrical signals. In addition, Vishay produces certain ICs that combine the functions of multiple devices on a single chip, as well as modules that contain multiple devices in one package. Vishay semiconductor products include MOSFETs (low voltage, medium voltage, and high voltage), ICs (power and analog), a variety of diodes and rectifiers, and many different types of optoelectronic devices.
Dahl
Founded in 1959 in Texas, USA, Dar is a global veteran in discrete IC components. Dar is optimistic that the automotive, industrial and IoT markets will drive long-term demand growth in the power semiconductor component market. Before the US-China trade war broke out, Dar formulated a comprehensive strategy three years ago, not only to actively enter the automotive component market, but also to set a clear goal to achieve US$2.5 billion in revenue and US$1 billion in operating gross profit with a gross profit margin of 40% by 2025. In 2019, Dar announced the acquisition of Taiwan's discrete manufacturer Dunan.
Lit
As the world's No. 1 circuit protection brand, Littelfuse offers the largest and broadest portfolio of circuit protection products, as well as a global network of technical experts with more than 80 years of application design experience.
On January 18, 2018, Littelfuse announced the completion of its acquisition of IXYS. This is the largest acquisition in Littelfuse's history (about US$750 million) and one of the few original equipment manufacturers in the field of power devices. The power semiconductor industry has welcomed a stronger
market player.
Littelfuse's business scope will span the four major markets of sensors, circuit protection, power devices, and MCUs.
Wan Guo Semiconductor
Wanguo Semiconductor is a power semiconductor supplier integrating design, development and sales, providing a wide range of power semiconductor product lines, including a complete range of power MOSFET and power management IC products.
In recent years, Wanguo Semiconductor's new product research and development has focused on products needed for 5G base station power supplies, data center power supplies, new energy vehicle charging piles, and solar inverters, including high-power Super Junction high-voltage MOSFET, high-efficiency SGT medium-voltage MOSFET, low-voltage MOSFET for POL, Power Stage technology platform, and new high-power density packaging.
Japanese companies remain strong
As far as Japanese companies are concerned, Japanese power semiconductor companies have a very impressive global share. Mitsubishi, ROHM, Toshiba, Renesas, and Fuji Electric ranked in the top five to nine in terms of sales in the power semiconductor market (discrete components and modules) in 2019.
Although the Japanese semiconductor industry has been declining in recent years, Japanese companies account for about 40% of the power semiconductor market. In the IGBT field, Mitsubishi Electric and Fuji Electric are very strong. In the low-voltage band, ON Semi (ON Semiconductor) ranks first, but Infineon Technologies occupies a leading position in the 600V~1700V field; above 2500V, Mitsubishi and Fuji Electric have a large share.
Japan currently occupies a large global share, and major Japanese manufacturers have not relaxed their plans for the future.
Fuji Electric
Fuji Electric has been established for more than 90 years. During this long history, Fuji Electric has continuously innovated energy technology and made great contributions to the world in the industrial and social fields.
Fuji Electric has announced its mid-term plan for 2023, which shows that the company's annual turnover in 2023 will exceed 1 trillion yen, and its operating profit will be 80 billion yen. In the future, Fuji Electric will focus on investing in the field of power semiconductors, and the average annual investment is expected to reach 40 billion to 50 billion yen from 2019 to 2023. Fuji Electric is one of Toyota's companies, and most of its products are for Toyota. The company invested 7.4 billion yen in 2015, 8.9 billion yen in 2016, and 11.1 billion yen in 2017, with a slight increase every year. However, the investment in 2018 reached 33.2 billion yen in order to increase the mass production plan of power semiconductors for EV vehicles. In the field of IGBT and diodes, single-core continues; the mass production of trench MOSFET is also being promoted.
Mitsubishi
Mitsubishi Electric Group is a world-leading technology company that provides diversified services for buildings, factories, homes, etc., including air conditioning and heating systems, power equipment, social public facilities and corporate visual energy-saving systems.
Mitsubishi Electric, the world's IGBT king, has seen a decrease in investment in recent years. In 2013, Mitsubishi Electric invested 36 billion yen, and after 2014, it maintained an investment level of 10 billion to 16.5 billion yen per year. At present, the basic concept of Mitsubishi Electric is to avoid investment risks and outsource resources. In the March 2019 period, Mitsubishi Electric's sales in the semiconductor field were approximately 200 billion yen, ranking eighth in Japan. However, it is worth noting that in 2018, Mitsubishi Electric decisively invested 55.2 billion yen and turned to a positive attitude. The background is the completion of the company's SiC power semiconductor development.
Roma
It can be said that Rohm is completely based on SiC as its main weapon. The company invested 42.1 billion yen in 2016, 55.9 billion yen in 2017, and 78 billion yen in 2018. A new factory was built in Chikugo, Fukuoka Prefecture, and a new production line was built in the Miyazaki factory. Its goal is to reach three times the current production capacity in 2021, with a monthly output of 12,000 pieces (converted to 6 inches). In fact, some people inside ROHM have already proposed the slogan of surpassing Wolfspeed to become the world's number one in the field of SiC. ROHM plans to invest 250 billion yen in the next three years, and the Shiga Prefecture factory purchased from Renesas will also invest in an 8-inch production line.
Toshiba
Toshiba was founded in July 1875 and was originally named Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co., Ltd. It was formed in 1939 by the merger of Tokyo Electric Co., Ltd. and Shibaura Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
Recently, Toshiba also plans to expand its 8-inch production line, attempting to create a business line with a monthly output of 150,000 pieces, with IGBT as the core. It has proposed a goal of achieving sales of 200 billion yen in discrete semiconductor components by 2021!
However, an industry insider said that although these Japanese power semiconductor manufacturers (including other small and medium-sized enterprises not included in the ranking) have announced their business policies, there are no signs of M&A. If they continue in this way, they are likely to lose market share to the rapidly growing Chinese power semiconductor manufacturers.
Domestic situation
Looking at China, Nexperia, ranked 13th, is the only Chinese manufacturer to enter the top 15. Nexperia is an integrated device manufacturer (IDM) with its own design, manufacturing and packaging plants. In 2018, its total production volume exceeded 100 billion pieces, ranking first in the world. It is strong in the field of analog semiconductors, and its products involve popular fields with great development potential, such as 5G mobile communications, smart cars, and the Internet of Things. In 2019, Nexperia was also the first in the world to start mass delivery of GaN FET, a power semiconductor product made of gallium nitride (GaN), becoming the only compound power semiconductor company in the industry to deliver to customers in mass production.
In June 2019, the China Securities Regulatory Commission approved the acquisition of Nexperia by China's Wingtech Group for 26.8 billion yuan, marking the completion of the largest semiconductor acquisition in China's history. The board of directors of Nexperia recently completed the re-election and corresponding changes, and Zhang Xuezheng, chairman of Wingtech Technology, officially took office as chairman of Nexperia.
Overall, the current domestic power semiconductor market is nearly 100 billion, but the localization rate is less than 50%. According to IHS statistics, the global power semiconductor market size was US$40.4 billion in 2019, of which the Chinese market size was US$14.4 billion, accounting for about 36% of the global market.
In terms of revenue size, the leading overseas power semiconductor manufacturers Infineon and ON Semiconductor had revenues of approximately RMB 60 billion and RMB 40 billion in 2019, while the leading domestic power semiconductor foundry Hua Hong Semiconductor and IDM manufacturer China Resources Microelectronics had revenues of around RMB 6 billion in 2019, which is a large gap compared to overseas manufacturers.
Comparison of revenue and gross profit margin of domestic power semiconductor manufacturers with those of overseas leading manufacturers
Note: Operating income and gross profit margin include the corresponding company's non-power semiconductor business
Data source: Wind, Orient Securities Research Institute
Anna Villamors, technology and market analyst at Yole's Power & Wireless division, believes that China is still very dependent on overseas supply chains for component modules: "China is a leader in certain power semiconductor applications, and Chinese companies such as BYD, Huawei, CRRC, and Sungrow are leading global power semiconductor customers. For the production of power electronic devices, China is still extremely dependent on overseas suppliers such as Infineon, Fuji Electric, and Mitsubishi Electric. It is true that China is the largest market for electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles, but overseas supply chains still provide power semiconductor modules for most of China's systems."
But the gap also means opportunities. The downstream market segments of power semiconductors such as automobiles, industrial control, and home appliances are growing rapidly. Domestic manufacturers such as China Resources Microelectronics have begun to actively deploy applications in home appliances, industrial control, and automobiles. Star Semiconductor's IGBT products have been widely used in the automotive field.
In addition, the characteristics of power semiconductors have also created opportunities for Chinese manufacturers. Power semiconductor technology is slow to change. The technological iteration of power semiconductor discrete devices is mainly through structural upgrades, process reduction, process advancement, and material changes. Since power semiconductors do not pursue logical computing capabilities and must consider the costs of different structures and processes, compared with digital chips, the iteration speed of power semiconductors in structure, process, and technology is relatively slow.
Comparison of power semiconductors and digital integrated circuits Data source: Internet
The life cycle of power semiconductor products is also relatively long. Take Infineon's IGBT products as an example. The product has been upgraded to the seventh generation, but the IGBT4, which was born in 2007, is still the most widely used IGBT chip technology. It can be seen in various applications with voltage ranges of 600V, 1200V, and 1700V. The IGBT3, which was born in 2000, still dominates the high-voltage fields such as 3300V, 4500V, and 6500V.
Therefore, it is easier for Chinese manufacturers to catch up with the technology. The relatively long product life cycle provides Chinese companies that lag behind international giants with a longer period of catching up, making it easier to achieve domestic substitution.
Domestic power semiconductor companies are also working hard to strengthen the localization of power electronic components to change the status quo. Yole believes that the proportion of Chinese power module and semiconductor manufacturers is also increasing, and the quality and performance of components are also improving. Therefore, the Sino-US trade friction has promoted the localization of China's power semiconductors.
Summarize
Since last year, countries and companies around the world have shown a high growth trend in the research and development and investment of third-generation semiconductor technology. my country's local power semiconductor manufacturers have also made great efforts to seize the high ground, including Nexperia Semiconductor, Silan Microelectronics, China Resources Microelectronics, HuaWei Electronics, and Yangjie Technology.
With the development of new infrastructure, third-generation semiconductors, and the acceleration of domestic substitution in the context of Sino-US trade, my country's power semiconductor industry is ushering in a good period of development.
Postscript: Because this article is based on the author's own knowledge, the manufacturers and reports involved may differ from reality. You are welcome to correct me.
*Disclaimer: This article is originally written by the author. The content of the article is the author's personal opinion. Semiconductor Industry Observer reprints it only to convey a different point of view. It does not mean that Semiconductor Industry Observer agrees or supports this point of view. If you have any objections, please contact Semiconductor Industry Observer.
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