Power transistors rebound
Staff -- Purchasing, 5/18/2006 2:00:00 AM
The power transistor market will grow 3% to $7.9 billion this year after declining about 4.6% in 2005 because of price erosion and a slowdown in unit growth.
Price erosion will ease and unit demand will pick up as power transistor sales grow 9% in 2007 to $8.7 billion.
Power transistor applications have steadily expanded in automotive electronics, personal computers, cell phones, industrial equipment, home appliances, consumer electronics, and many battery-operated portable products.
Power transistors accounted for about half of the $15.7 billion discrete semiconductor market in 2005. By 2010, power transistors are forecast to represent about 54% of the projected $19.6 billion in discrete semiconductor sales.
While integration trends continue to move more transistor functions onto integrated circuits, the number of discrete power devices is actually increasing in many systems applications because of a growing need to conserve, control, and condition electricity from wall plugs and batteries. Consequently, more power metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFET) are needed in desktop PCs, notebook computers, cell phones, portable systems, and consumer products to enable microprocessors and other ICs to run at top speeds but at low operating voltages.
Low-voltage power MOSFET revenues are expected to increase at an annual growth rate of 6% between 2005 and 2010 reaching $4.3 billion in 2010. High-voltage power MOSFETs (above 200V) are forecast to increase at a growth rate of 9% to $1.7 billion in 2010.
Meanwhile, insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) are forecast to be the fastest growing power transistor products with a 12% annual growth rate. IGBTs typically serve rugged, slower-switching power applications in automobiles, industrial systems, lighting, and many home appliances posted sales of $1.4 billion for transistor and module products combined in 2005. Market researcher IC Insights is forecasting a 14% increase in total IGBT sales to $1.6 billion in 2006.
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