Wide-bandgap power semiconductor device market growing at 39% CAGR to 2023, driven by rising implementation of signal processing applications

The market for wide-bandgap (WBG) power semiconductor devices will rise at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of nearly 39% to $2.19bn in 2023, forecasts Technavio in its report ‘Global Wide-Bandgap (WBG) Power Semiconductor Devices Market 2019-2023’.

A key driver is the increasing demand for high-power-density devices, including in uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and power supply (PS) systems, photovoltaic (PV) inverters and electric and hybrid electric vehicles (EVs/HEVs), where there is an increasing focus on achieving higher efficiency in power systems. The UPS and PS systems application segment held the largest share of the wide-bandgap power semiconductor devices market in 2018 (at about 41%), and is expected to dominate throughout 2019-2023. The Asia Pacific (APAC) region held more than 43% market share in 2018, followed by Europe, the Middle East & Africa (EMEA) and the Americas, respectively. APAC is expected to dominate the market throughout 2019-2023.

As power electronics offer benefits such as light weight, easy maintenance, better control and fault-detection intelligence, demand is particularly high in the aerospace & defense sector. In particular, intensive signal processing applications such as radio detection and ranging (radar), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) and sound navigation and ranging (sonar) use processing power that generates a tremendous amount of heat. So, durable and high-performance electronics are required so that products such as missile systems (which can be stored for as long as 10 years) function effectively when deployed for mission-critical applications. Aircraft and military manufacturers have therefore been developing power electronic systems incorporating the WBG materials silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) to withstand high voltages and deliver high output.

“The latest trend gaining momentum in the market is the growing implementation of signal processing applications including underwater communications, naval mine detection, offshore oil & gas exploration, and search & discovery missions,” comments Technavio.

With broad applications of high-power density devices in different end-user industries, various power semiconductor device manufacturers are investing in R&D on WBG power semiconductor materials. For example, in June Cree subsidiary Wolfspeed announced the development of its third-generation 1200V SiC MOSFET for boosting drivetrain efficiency in EVs/HEVs. As well as Cree, the report also includes analysis of companies such as Infineon Technologies, ROHM Semiconductor, STMicroelectronics and Transphorm.

Tags: GaN SiC Power electronics

Visit: www.technavio.com/report/