Power supply tags will fall

By Staff -- Purchasing, 7/13/2000

The worldwide merchant market for switching power supplies will grow nearly 10% over the next five years driven by increased demand for consumer electronics and communications equipment and expanding uses of distributed power architectures.

The merchant switching power supply market will grow from $10 billion to nearly $16 billion in 2004, according to market researcher Micro-Tech Consultants. The overall power supply market including captive production will grow from $17.8 billion in 1999 to $26 billion in 2004.

Unit demand for power supplies is strong because of the rapid growth of electronic equipment ranging from cell phones and base stations to PCs and networking equipment. Revenue growth, however, is tempered by falling power supply tags. Prices are falling about 5%-10% per year depending on the type of equipment and power supply used, says Mohan Mankikar, president of Micro-Tech Consultants.

AC/DC switching power supplies account for more than 70% of the U.S. merchant internal power supply shipments. However, there is growing demand for DC/DC converters because of the growing use of distributed power. With distributed power, DC/DC converters are placed at point of use in a system, rather than distributing filtered and regulated voltages from a central source. Distributed power results in noise reduction, better regulation, reduction of distribution losses and higher efficiency, according to Mark Gaboriault, director of the power conversion and control practice at Venture Development Corp.

Competition is keen

One reason that prices have been falling is healthy competition. While there had been consolidation among major power supply manufacturers, there are still hundreds of power supply manufacturers, although many of them are small. Some make niche products for specific industries such as defense and aerospace. These PS companies generally have less than 1% of the market.

However, most OEMs tend to have similar product requirements for AC/DC switching power supplies, says VDC. Typically, OEM requirements include applicable input and output voltages, applicable output currents, smaller footprints and lower height profiles. Overvoltage protection-the shutting down or clamping of the supply output when a voltage exceeds a preset level-and short circuit protection (limiting the output current to protect the power supply from damage) are typically mandatory technical requirements for AC/DC switching power supplies, according to VDC.

However, there are differentiating features for AC/DC switching power supplies. Universal input voltage allows power supplies to be connected to the full ranges of input voltages, typically from 95 to 265 VAC, without having to change jumpers or switches. Current sharing allows the operation of two or more power supplies in parallel to achieve a higher current output at the same voltage. Hot-swap/hot-plug capability is the ability to remove or insert a board or other electronics from a "live" system, allowing redundant power for mission-critical applications. Higher efficiency power supplies require less design effort to dissipate heat, especially in higher power applications, and allows manufacturers to put more electronics into a smaller space, says VDC.

For DC/DC converters, higher power densities is the key trend. This is being done with designs that allow high efficiency and heat-removal techniques. This enables manufacturers to place more electronics into a smaller space, according to VDC.

More DC/DC converters are surface mount technology (SMT) compatible. In the not so distant past, SMT converters were limited to low power ranges due to size and weight issues. However, higher power densities and improved heat-removal techniques are allowing converters compatible with SMT equipment to be designed for power ranges of 30 watts or more, says VDC.

Correction