The GaN power market will surpass $1 billion in 2026

The GaN power market doubled in 2020, highlighting the impressive growth of smartphone fast chargers and leading the way for telecom and automotive markets.

“Following Oppo’s adoption of GaN in its 65W inbox fast chargers for its Reno Ace flagship model in late 2019, several phone OEMs and accessory charger providers released GaN-solution design wins for their fast chargers in 2020.” asserts Ahmed Ben Slimane, PhD, Technology & Market Analyst, Compound Semiconductors and Emerging Substrates at Yole Intelligence, part of Yole Group.

The GaN power market doubled in 2020 compared to 2019 and is poised to surpass the US$1 billion mark in 2026. As further confirmation of this impressive GaN market growth, Yole forecasts that the markets for telecom & datacom and automotive & mobility will contribute in the mid- to long-term to overall growth, benefiting from GaN’s ascension in fast chargers.

In this context, Yole investigates disruptive power GaN technologies and related markets in depth, to point out the latest innovations and underline the business opportunities.

Released today, the GaN Power 2021: Epitaxy, Devices, Applications and Technology Trends report provides a clear understanding of the GaN power industry, covering markets from epiwafers to discretes and GaN ICs. It also analyzes the market drivers and bottlenecks within the GaN power industry by studying GaN adoption for different end-applications and supply chains. This study also delivers an in-depth understanding of the ecosystem and main players’ strategies.

What is the status of the GaN power industry? What are the economical and technical challenges? What are the key drivers? Who are the suppliers to watch, and what innovative technologies are they working on? What are the recent investments, mergers and acquisitions?

Yole presents today its vision of the GaN power industry.

As analyzed by Yole’s team in the new GaN Power 2021: Epitaxy, Devices, Applications and Technology Trends report, in the consumer market, GaN enjoyed a successful year in 2020 thanks to several companies, such as Xiaomi, Lenovo, Samsung, Realme, Dell and LG, as well as other Chinese aftermarket companies that adopted GaN technology. Yole expects the GaN consumer power supply market to be the main driver, as this market is forecast to grow from almost US$29 million in 2020 to around US$672 million in 2026 with a CAGR of 69%.
According to Poshun Chiu, Technology & Market Analyst specializing in Compound Semiconductor and Emerging Substrates at Yole: “In the telecom & datacom market, which requires more efficient, smaller power supply amidst tighter regulations for energy consumption, datacenter & telecom operators are already interested in GaN devices”.
Following the first small-volume adoption of GaN-based power supplies by Eltek, Delta, and BelPower in recent years, Yole expects a larger penetration of GaN, with a market valued at US$9.1 million in 2020 and a CAGR2020-2026 of 71%, reaching more than US$223 million in 2026.
“The automotive & mobility market is also paying lots of attention to GaN, following big incentives for the electrification of cars and the interest in increasing driving range through system efficiency optimization”. asserts Poshun Chiu. Players such as EPC, Transphorm, GaN Systems, Texas Instruments and Nexperia are AEC qualified. The major IDM STMicroelectronics, through partnership and acquisition, is also targeting GaN for EVs. Starting from 2022, GaN is expected to penetrate in small volumes in applications such as OBC and DC/DC converters, mainly related to sampling by OEM s and Tier-1s. Yole expects the automotive & mobility market to reach more than US$155 million in 2026.

In 2020, the power GaN market doubled thanks to an impressive penetration of GaN devices in fast charger applications. The adoption of GaN in the smartphone market is fueled by system compactness, high efficiency, and adapter multifunctionalities. Fast charging is likely to be the killer application for the GaN power device market. So far, at least 10 smartphones OEMs have launched more than 18 phones with an inbox GaN charger. This growth will continue in the aftermarket as well, with companies like Apple, Xiaomi, and Samsung opting for an out-of-the-box charger solution. How will these OEMs’ decisions affect the GaN market? What are the possible market scenarios for GaN adoption?
For Ahmed Ben Slimane: “While GaN continues its ascension in the mass consumer market, the markets for telecom & datacom and automotive & mobility will benefit from the “economy of scale effect” and price erosion. Indeed, in these markets where reliability and cost are paramount, Yole expects that GaN penetration will see increasing volumes starting from 2023 – 2024”.
In the long term, in cases where GaN has proven its reliability and high-current capabilities at a lower price, it can penetrate the more challenging EV/HEV inverter market and the conservative industrial market, which could create remarkable high-volume opportunities for GaN. In fact, Nexperia and VisIC are working on GaN solutions for xEV inverters to compete with SiC and Si.