News: Microelectronics
11 November 2022
Navitas’ growth in data-center, EV, energy storage, solar, home appliance and industrial markets outweighs mobile softness
For third-quarter 2022, gallium nitride (GaN) power IC and silicon carbide (SiC) technology firm Navitas Semiconductor of Torrance, CA, USA has reported revenue of $10.2m, up 19% on $8.6m last quarter and 82% on $5.6m a year ago. However, this includes a partial quarter of revenue from GeneSiC (acquired in mid-August).
Gross margin (non a non-GAAP basis) has fallen further, from 46.2% a year ago and 41.6% last quarter to 38.4% (below the expected 40%), while operating expenses have risen further, from $9.1m a year ago and $12.5m last quarter to $14.2m (including the partial quarter of expenses from GeneSiC). Net loss has hence risen from $6.6m a year ago and $9.1m last quarter to $9.5m.
“Despite continued softness in the mobile market, demand in the higher-power GaN markets and for SiC remained strong, including 50 new SiC opportunities, for which we have recently signed long-term supply agreements to enable 5x SiC capacity expansion in 2023,” says CEO & co-founder Gene Sheridan. “We are seeing strong demand across electric vehicles (EVs), energy storage, solar, data-center, home appliance and industrial markets, all fueled by the world’s pursuit to replace silicon with more efficient GaN and SiC technologies and the commitment to address sustainability, climate change and electrification,” he adds.
Navitas highlights its diversified markets and customer geographies as follows:
- Mobile: 17 new fast chargers, including record-setting Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 210W ultra-fast charging from 1-100% in only 9 minutes, plus Lenovo, iQOO, Anker, Moto and Best Buy models;
- Motor drive: over 15 new home appliance & industrial opportunities, deploying recently announced GaNSense half-bridge ICs;
- Data center: now nine customer projects, including a $5m purchase order (PO) for mid-2023 initial shipments;
- Solar: commercial & residential customers such as APS, Chint, Enphase, Goodwe and Sungrow in production with SiC now, or on schedule for GaN starting in 2024;
- Electric vehicle:
- 22 new SiC customer projects add to strong growth from BYD, Geely, General Motors, Saab, Land Rover Jaguar, Shinry and many others;
- new joint design center with leading EV systems provider VREMT (Geely group, a supplier to brands including ZEEKR, Volvo, Polestar and Lotus);
- Navitas’ EV design center team now has four onboard charger (OBC) platforms in development, for eight customer projects with expected revenue ramps by 2025.
Navitas also highlights its solid research and operational execution, including:
- shipping over 65 million GaN units with zero reported GaN field failures;
- rapid adoption of Gen 4 GaN in mobile, data center and motor drive applications;
- long-term supplier agreements for SiC wafers enabling an expected 5x increase in 2023 capacity versus 2022.
Major macro-economic growth drivers are cited as:
- secular global trends driving the transition of the silicon power semiconductor industry to GaN and SiC for sustainability, energy savings and electrification;
- the United States’ CHIPS Act and $300bn+ Inflation Reduction Act investments focused on sustainability and climate change.
For fourth-quarter 2022, Navitas expects revenue of $11-13m, gross margin of 40% and operating expenses of about $17.5m.
Navitas acquires GeneSiC, accelerating entry into EV, solar and energy storage markets by 2-3 years
Navitas acquires VDD Tech to expand high-power, next-gen semiconductor capabilities
Navitas’ revenue grows by 8.2% in Q1
GaN power IC firm Navitas doubles revenue in 2021
GaN power IC firm Navitas doubles sales volume year-on-year in Q3
