Portable equipment drives power IC market
By Carol Rosen -- Purchasing, 3/23/2000
The worldwide market for power ICs will grow about 15% annually through 2003, driven by rising demand for portable electronic equipment including cellular telephones and portable computers.The good news for buyers is that there is plenty of capacity and prices should be stable to declining for the rest of the year. In fact, suppliers and analysts say that capacity for power ICs should be adequate for the next 24 months.
Overall the power IC market is expected to grow from $3.4 billion in 1999 to $6.4 billion in 2003, according to market researcher Venture Development Corp. Demand stems mostly from portable equipment such as cellular phones and notebook computers and other communication equipment. The auto industry is also driving power IC growth. The chips are used to control features such as antilock brakes and power windows among others.
Despite rising demand, supply will remain adequate. "I don't foresee any capacity shortage problems for the next six to 24 months," says Mark Gaboriault, project director for Venture Development Corp. in Natick, Mass. "In fact, there could even be oversupply for some parts. Overall I see supply and demand for power supply and power management ICs in good equilibrium into 2001," he says. He forecasts that the power IC market will grow at a 15% annual rate through at least 2001.
Most major power IC suppliers agree there is adequate capacity to meet increased demand. Linear Technology officials recently told analysts and investors that it is doubling capacity at one of its Milpitas, Calif., fabs and also is increasing capacity at its Camus, Wash.; Malaysia; and Singapore fabs as well. Texas Instruments has also added capacity.
However, there are some capacity constraints for power ICs in certain packages. John Trice, director of marketing for Phoenix-based ON Semiconductor, says there are tight supplies of SOT23, SO-8, Dpak and TSOP6 packages. Even though ON expanded capacity significantly for those packages, "we continue to chase the demand and see no abatement in 2000."
Smaller power ICs coming
"Buyers can expect power IC manufacturers to develop smaller, more sophisticated and more cost-effective power ICs," says Jeff Shepard, president of the Darnell Group, Corona, Calif. "Current handling capability is increasing as is power handling. You now can get 10 to 15 W in a small package" Shepard says.
Some manufacturers are integrating more functionality on a chip. Case in point: Power Integrations, which has integrated controller chips with power MOSFETS, adding on chip resistors and capacitors as required. "Depending on the application, we've been able to save our customers up to 40 discrete components with a single chip in a 3-pin package," says Rob Frizzell, marketing manager for the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based firm.
Other suppliers, however, note the cost of a system on a chip remains prohibitive for most and the high cost likely means that a system on a chip will remain a niche product for awhile.
"We have been shipping integrated MOSFETS for several years and are actively working on increasing integration levels for these so-called smart power devices," says Trice. "But we don't believe that silicon integration always results in the lowest cost solution for the system designer."
Afshin Obadbaee, product marketing manager for power ICs at Linear Technology in Milpitas, Calif., adds that system-on-chip technology "is tough to do. It will have to be a lower power device. People are trying to do it, but it's difficult to mix and match technology with an ASIC."
Suppliers report that automakers are impacting power IC growth and technology. The chips control power windows, antilock-braking systems and other features. "European car manufacturers are trying to drive everything [in the car] by wire," says Obadbaee. "These auto makers want to make everything electronic--fuel injection, brakes, power control--and they want power ICs to power everything."
While such auto standards remain five to 10 years away, Obadbaee says we can expect to see more and more power ICs supplying power to more and more gizmos and gadgets in our cars as we move further into the decade.
Such applications will require more differentiation, add the analysts. Differentiation among power ICs is becoming quite important, says Bill Chew, strategic marketing manager for power management at Texas Instruments in Dallas. Using differentiation is key to meeting customer demand.
For example, 10 years ago, a low dropout voltage regular (LDO) was a commodity device. Today, however, LDOs are more specialized, run at lower voltages, and consume as little power as possible. They are being designed to meet specific customer requirements. Today, TI is shipping single chips with two low dropout voltage regulators with a supervisor function.
Talkback
Related Content
Related Content
Sponsored Links
View All Blogs
Now Playing:
