Benefiting from the large increase in market demand for new energy vehicles, industrial control, the Internet of Things and 5G, SiC devices and various power device products such as IGBTs and MOSFETs continue to be out of stock and prices, which has driven the Chinese power semiconductor market to grow significantly in 2018 by 12.76 % To 259.1 billion yuan. Some analysts believe that power semiconductors, as a demand-driven industry, were affected by adverse factors such as the Sino-US trade war in 2018, but were less affected by demand than other IC products. It is estimated that in 2019, the size of China's power semiconductor market will reach 290.7 billion yuan.
On March 20, 2019, during the Shanghai Electronics Fair in Munich, Master Xin interviewed Mr. Liu Yuan, the global marketing director of Ruineng Semiconductor, and discussed in detail the current status and development trends of the power semiconductor market.
Power semiconductor ushers in new kinetic energy
In the past two or three years, power semiconductors have once again warmed up globally, especially in the area of SiC and GaN devices. More and more large semiconductor manufacturers have begun to increase their investment and have introduced related products. They have been used in industrial power, photovoltaics, electric vehicles, railways Transportation, electricity and other industries have obvious substitution advantages.
It is understood that Ruineng Semiconductor's predecessor was NXP Semiconductors' power product line. In 2015, NXP Semiconductors and Beijing Jianguang Asset Management jointly established a joint venture. After several years of development, as NXP Semiconductors faded out, Ruineng Semiconductor's brand and operations have also become completely independent. Ruineng Semiconductor has entered the top five power semiconductors in China for two consecutive years, and the progress is very obvious.
In response, Liu Yuan said: "The core competitiveness of Ruineng Semiconductor is its independent production process, quality management system and strong sales network. At present, all well-known home appliance brands are our customers. On this basis, Ruineng Semiconductor Thyristor device products rank 2nd in the world (behind STMicroelectronics), 1st in China, 14th in power semiconductors worldwide, 2nd in China (measured by 2018 sales), and its global market The proportion is about 7.5% -8%. "
At present, Ruineng Semiconductor focuses on the industrial energy, home appliances and automotive fields. The main products are planned to include silicon carbide devices and IGBTs. In this exhibition, for the application of new energy vehicles such as electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles, Ruineng Semiconductor also launched a number of automotive-grade power semiconductor device products, such as automotive-grade SCR and silicon carbide devices.
SiC compound annual growth rate exceeds 60%
We know that the power semiconductor market is in great demand in 2018, and shortages and price increases have become the norm. So how long will this phenomenon continue?
"From the end of 2018 to the first quarter of 2019, as new capacity is gradually released, the growth rate of the domestic power semiconductor market has slowly slowed down. As for the shortage situation, it will completely ease at the end of the second quarter of 2019." Liu Yuan That said.
Compared with the power semiconductor market, SiC market demand is still growing. Liu Yuan believes that in recent years, the SiC market has grown very rapidly, with a compound growth rate of 60% -70%. In 2018, Renergy Semiconductor's SiC sales increased fourfold, and it is expected that this proportion will continue to increase in 2019. To this end, Ruineng Semiconductor is also actively adjusting, taking SiC as one of the key development directions in the future.
Because SiC has excellent characteristics such as forbidden band width, critical breakdown electric field, and thermal conductivity, it is mainly used in the fields of new energy vehicles, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), and power correction, which can greatly reduce the weight of the vehicle body and improve battery life. This is also the key consideration in the field of new energy vehicles. Take a benchmark electric vehicle as an example. After a large number of SiC devices are used, its overall weight has been reduced by 30%, and its cruising range has also been improved a lot.
At present, in terms of on-board charging of new energy vehicles, Ruineng Semiconductor mainly provides 650V SiC devices. According to Liu Yuan, at the end of the first quarter of 2019, Ruineng Semiconductor's 1200V SiC products will be fully mass-produced, mainly for automotive charging piles. Compared with traditional silicon-based devices, it can provide better charging efficiency. In addition, the SiC switch devices being developed by Ruineng Semiconductor will also be launched to meet automotive power applications. Compared with the charging pile, in terms of automotive power modules, the demand for SiC devices is more.
Opportunities for GaN in the 5G era
Affected by the Sino-US trade war and other factors, the development trend of the semiconductor industry has become the focus of industry attention. As we all know, China is now vigorously developing the integrated circuit industry. Among them, the third-generation semiconductors, as important materials and components for the next-generation electronic products, have naturally received major attention.
As the third generation of the most mature materials, SiC and GaN can complement each other in application advantages. SiC is suitable for high voltage and high current fields above 1200V, while the GaN market is biased toward high frequency and low current fields. The application areas of the two cover new energy vehicles, photovoltaics, energy-saving appliances, communications radio and other emerging application markets with broad development prospects.
Compared with GaN, the thermal conductivity of SiC is more than three times that of GaN, and it has more advantages in high-temperature applications. At the same time, the manufacturing technology of SiC single crystals is relatively mature, so the types of SiC power devices are far more than GaN. But GaN is not entirely at a disadvantage. Liu Yuan believes that "5G, which is about to be commercialized in 2019, will bring major opportunities to GaN, especially in 5G radio frequency, and the demand for GaN devices is very strong."
Speaking of future development, Liu Yuan said: "In addition to focusing on SiC in 2019, Ruineng Semiconductor will also launch iteratively updated IGBT products for the home appliance field and continue to develop and optimize existing thyristors and diodes. Its product line. In addition, the company will also launch more light and thin chip packaging products this year. In addition, it will also expand regionally for existing products and expand applications in response to market changes. "