El Segundo, Calif. — The power management semiconductor market will reach $31.4 billion in 2010, up 39.9 percent from $22.4 billion in 2009, according to a new report from iSuppli Corp. This year’s expansion will reverse the losses of 2009, which declined 15.8 percent, and is expected to yield the highest growth rate during the next four years, none of which will enjoy growth higher than 13 percent, said the market research firm.
The power management semiconductor market, comprised of ICs and discretes, is expected to grow about 15 percent, driven mainly by the notebook market, server infrastructure replacement and alternative energy requirements such as from hybrid and electric vehicles, wind and solar energy and grid upgrades.
“Growth was solid for the first half of the year, marked by an exceptionally robust first quarter, due mainly to demand in the industrial and communication markets, as well as to deliveries that had been pushed to the start of this year after the component shortages of late 2009,” said Marijana Vukicevic, principal analyst for power management at iSuppli, in a statement.
“Revenue will continue to expand into the third quarter, iSuppli data show, after which the market will slow as the year ends, in keeping with normal seasonal patterns. For the second half of the year, growth will be propelled by demand in the consumer electronics, wireless and data processing sectors, reflecting the overall improvement of the Consumer Confidence Index. Prices, however, are likely to increase as backlogs ease at the backend, and some time will be needed before supply catches up with demand,” added Vukicevic.
iSuppli expects that a good portion of power management semiconductor growth will come from the alternative energy market. The need for inverters — devices that convert direct current to alternating current — will come from applications in the automotive, solar and wind turbine markets. Revenue is expected to more than double by 2014, reaching $7.2 billion, compared to $2.9 billion in 2009.
The report, “Is the Industrial Market Really Catching Up with Consumer Markets?,” indicates that power MOSFETs will achieve the fastest growth among all power management semiconductors. Power MOSFET revenue is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.8 percent from 2009 to 2014.
Within the power MOSFET group, the best performer will be low-voltage discretes, with a CAGR of 25.6 percent during the same period with forecasted revenue of $4.9 billion by 2014. Several markets will contribute to the growth of low-voltage power MOSFETs, including wired communications, consumer, automotive and industrial.
Overall, ICs will slightly outpace discretes in growth during the period. Total revenue for integrated circuits will climb from $12.4 billion in 2009 to $25.3 billion by 2014 with a CAGR of 15.3 percent, said iSuppli. In comparison, total revenue for discretes will rise from $10.0 billion to $19.7 billion, a CAGR of 14.5 percent.