Domestic IGBT has a promising future, but the road to breakthrough is quite tortuous

With the development of IGBT technology, IGBT has expanded from industrial to consumer electronics applications, becoming the fastest growing power semiconductor device in the next 10 years; and in the Chinese market, applications such as rail transit, home appliance energy saving, wind power generation, solar photovoltaics and power electronics have ignited the IGBT application market. According to a report to be published by IHS iSuppli's China Research Service, due to greater attention paid to green energy and energy efficiency, as well as government investment support and strict energy policies, the compound annual growth rate of China's insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) market sales will reach 13% from 2011 to 2015. IGBT sales will reach US$859 million in 2011 and are expected to reach US$1.3 billion in 2015, as shown in the figure below. Compared with other discrete power components such as other MOSFETs, China's IGBT sales have grown strongly.

　　IGBT products can be divided into IGBT modules and discrete devices. Due to their high power output, small size and reliability in terminal applications, IGBT modules are widely used in almost all electronic industries, from consumer to industrial fields. In 2010, modules accounted for 73% of total IGBT sales, reaching US$537 million. IGBT discrete components accounted for the remaining 27%. In 2010, total IGBT sales reached US$710 million, a 65% increase from US$430 million in 2009.

　　Challenges and gaps

　　Although the market space is huge, the domestic IGBT market is still monopolized by foreign manufacturers such as Infineon and Mitsubishi. The sales director of Nanjing Yinmao Microelectronics estimates that more than 95% of the domestic IGBT market is imported. Although foreign IGBT giants have some investments or joint ventures in China, they still implement a technical blockade on China in terms of IGBT, so the real core technology has not flowed to China, which has seriously restricted the progress of IGBT industrialization in my country.

　　"Compared with foreign manufacturers, the main gaps of domestic IGBTs are in device design, process and manufacturing technology, as well as the entire terminal application solution. In addition, the supply of IGBT raw materials will also affect the development of domestic IGBTs to a certain extent." Wu Zongxian, general manager of China Resources Shanghua Discrete Device Product Development Center, said realistically. He also said that although the domestic IGBT industry has developed rapidly, it will take 5-10 years to catch up with the international level because of the large gaps in various aspects.

　　Luo Yi, general manager of Xi'an Xinpai, is much more pessimistic. He believes that under the current situation, it is a pipe dream for domestic IGBT to catch up with foreign standards. He explained: "The domestic IGBT industry is just starting out, and the technology and process are basically blank. On the one hand, IGBT technology is changing with each passing day and is updated very quickly. It is difficult for domestic companies to keep up with the pace, let alone catch up. On the other hand, China has not yet mastered the core technology of IGBT. At present, there are only some IGBT packaging factories in China, without their own real brands. Without independent brands, how can they compete with others?"

　　In addition, the lack of industrialized technical experience and talent is also one of the difficulties currently faced by the development of my country's IGBT industry. Although this situation has been improved to a certain extent as some overseas returnees have returned to China to start businesses, most domestic universities and research institutions have turned their attention to SIC and GaN wide-bandgap semiconductor devices and power management chips. Only two or three universities and research institutions are still conducting research and development related to IGBT devices, and they are mainly limited to computer simulation research. This has led to a severe shortage of talent in IGBT design and development in my country.

　　Breaking out of the cocoon and growing

　　Because domestic enterprises have relatively little technology and accumulation in IGBT chip design, manufacturing and packaging, it is not realistic to catch up with the international level in the short term. Therefore, improving the ability to replace import products has become the first choice for domestic enterprises, and seizing market share with price advantages and local advantages. It is understood that IGBT domestic devices save 15~20% of costs compared with foreign enterprises. Even if the selling price is reduced by 40%, domestic enterprises still have a gross profit margin of more than 30%. In addition, most of the products of foreign enterprises are positioned in the field of industrial applications. High-power IGBT, while my country is the world's most important home appliance production and consumption country, plus the threshold of low-power IGBT production is low, so it is the most suitable entry point for domestic enterprises to enter the IGBT industry home appliance field. "In the past 2-3 years, domestic IGBTs, especially 1200V planar non-punch-through type and 1200V trench non-punch-through type, have made breakthroughs in the consumer electronics market. It is expected that in the next 2-3 years, there will be breakthroughs in 600V, 1,700V and even higher voltage technologies. Domestic IGBT devices will be seen in medium and high power applications in the next 3-5 years." From the answer of Wu Zongxian, general manager of China Resources Shanghua Discrete Device Product Development Center, it can be seen that he is full of confidence in the development prospects of domestic IGBTs.

　　The local markets such as smart grid, high-speed rail construction, new energy vehicles and energy-saving home appliances have created a solid market foundation for the company's technological breakthroughs and the replacement of IGBT. In particular, energy conservation and new energy are the focus of the country's development of emerging science and technology industries, and IGBT is the core device in the field of energy conservation and new energy. Therefore, the industrialization of IGBT is not only a market demand, but also a strategic demand for national development. On March 19, 2010, the National Development and Reform Commission issued a red-headed document: "Notice of the General Office of the National Development and Reform Commission on the Organization and Implementation of the 2010 New Power Electronic Device Industrialization Special Project", which clearly defines the design, development and industrialization of chips and devices represented by IGBT, and the industrialization of power modules. This shows that the country has a relatively deep understanding and crisis awareness of the current status of the localization of power semiconductors.

　　The above picture shows the current distribution map of domestic IGBT companies