Recently, Yole Développement (Yole) published an analysis on the power module packaging market. Dr. Ana Villamor, the chief analyst of Yole’s power semiconductor activity team, stated in the article that as the world sets the goal of “carbon peak and carbon neutrality”, it will bring more demand for green energy power generation, green cars, charging piles, and energy storage. The semiconductor device market will grow from USD 17.5 billion in 2020 to USD 26 billion in 2026, with an average annual compound growth rate of 6.9%.
Yole pointed out that the current power device market is still dominated by discrete devices, but the share of power modules will increase significantly in the next few years. Automobiles, industrial motor drives, and telecommunications will become the main driving forces of the discrete component market, which will exceed 16 billion U.S. dollars by 2026. Electric vehicles, industrial motors and household appliances will push the power module market to nearly 10 billion U.S. dollars by 2026.
"In power semiconductors, MOSFET, IGBT and SiC technology are three crucial areas," Ana Villamor explained. "MOSFET is essential for the low-power market segment; IGBT modules are the key to electric vehicles and industrial applications; SiC technology for MOSFET discrete devices and modules for electric vehicles is also worthy of attention."
The low-power market dominated by silicon-based MOSFET components will continue to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 3.8% between 2020 and 2026. This market segment is driven by consumer electronics, automotive auxiliary systems, and low-power industrial applications. Consumer applications account for a large part of the demand for silicon-based MOSFETs. It is worth noting that GaN materials will seize part of the silicon-based MOSFET market in fast chargers for consumer electronics. Car auxiliary systems are also worthy of careful study because the number of small auxiliary systems in cars has increased significantly.
At the same time, IGBT modules have also shown significant growth, with a compound annual growth rate of 7.8% expected over the same period. These power electronic components are driven by electric vehicles and industrial applications. In addition, there are other markets such as PV, wind energy and BESS.
In addition, the market also favors SiC technology. Yole said in the report that SiC MOSFET discrete devices and modules have penetrated into EV applications in large numbers. This evolution will obviously make a significant contribution to the SiC MOSFET market, which is expected to reach US$2.6 billion by 2026. Electric vehicles and their high-quality standards have also contributed to the tremendous growth of the power module packaging market.
Different application trends are conducive to discrete devices and modules, thus bringing good growth to these two device segments:
IGBT and SiC power modules are mainly used in applications such as electric vehicles, wind turbines, photovoltaics, BESS and electric vehicle DC chargers, mainly driven by the trend of higher system power.
On the other hand, discrete power components are mainly used for low-power applications, such as low-power motor drives, photovoltaic micro-inverters and residential string photovoltaic inverters, automotive auxiliary systems, DC-DC converters, and on-board chargers for electric vehicles Wait.
Several key aspects have promoted the development of the discrete device industry:
Wide selection of products and suppliers, the use of standardized products and technologies, and the lower cost of each device. However, to succeed in the innovation and efficiency race, manufacturers should not rely solely on semiconductors.
When pursuing the best configuration of electrical, thermal, and mechanical properties, they must struggle with package reliability and cost. These parameters are indeed very important. Encapsulation is not just a simple "shell", it can accomplish or destroy a design, so specific molds should be adapted and supplemented, rather than degrading their performance.
Dr. Milan Rosina, the chief analyst of Yole’s power electronics and battery division, concluded that discrete devices will be mainly used for applications below 30kW to 50kW, and higher power applications will use more power modules. However, high-efficiency requirements make it difficult for components and technology. The demand is more diversified.
The company also said that in the power semiconductor device market, large companies are expanding their business into new market segments and products to expand their product portfolio and protect their supply chain, including expanding production capacity and migrating to 12-inch wafers.
