RF GaN Compound Semiconductor Market Monitor

Defense and telecom infrastructure drive GaN-on-SiC market momentum, and new opportunities for GaN-on-Si technology. 

Despite weak demand in the 5G telecom infrastructure sector in 2023, RF GaN is steadily gaining over LDMOS, offset by consistent growth in the Defense and Satcom markets. Anticipating a resurgence, we project the RF GaN market to regain momentum slowly in 2024 and exceed $2 billion by 2029, driven by telecom infrastructure and defense and Satcom applications. MACOM's recent acquisition of OMMIC and Wolfspeed’s RF Business not only strengthens its market presence but also transforms the RF GaN industry landscape, positioning Wolfspeed as a pure SiC wafer and GaN-on-SiC epiwafer supplier and impacting the open epiwafer market.

Driven by defense and telecom infrastructure, the RF GaN market could exceed $2B by 2029.

For many years, Radio Frequency (RF) GaN has been used for 4G base stations because of its performance in the power amplifier stage. Meanwhile, defense applications consistently stretch the demand for RF GaN-on-SiC in military radar and electronic warfare systems. The 2021 dip in RF GaN, caused by the US Huawei ban, the impact of Covid, and the slowdown in base station deployment, was reversed in 2022. Manufacturers responded by accelerating GaN adoption in their systems to meet the resurgence in 5G deployment. GaN on Si's recent introduction to telecom infrastructure will directly impact the industry from 2023 onward and may bring new market opportunities. In this monitor, we track SEDI, Wolfspeed’s RF Business (now MACOM), Qorvo, and NXP at the device level, and Wolfspeed, IQE Coherent, and SICC at the wafer and epiwafer levels. With a weakened and changing RF GaN market, how is the industry reshaping itself and evolving?

Key Features

• 2023-2029 forecast for RF GaN devices Telecom infrastructure, Defense, Aerospace, Consumer markets (Munits, $M)
• 2023-2029 forecast GaN-on-SiC and GaN-on-Si wafers & Epiwafer for RF GaN devices (Munits, $M)
• RF GaN Market trends, including  Split by technology platform GaN on SiC or GaN on Si for MMIC or discrete devices.

What’s new?

• Q4-2023 revenues at device, epiwafer and S.I. SiC substrate level. Macom's company profile. Update on telecom and defense forecast and extend to 2029.

Product's objectives

• Quarterly update of the data
• Market forecast through 2029 in M$US for devices, wafers and epiwafers and units for wafers and epiwafers for RF GaN
• Market forecast breakdown by technology including discrete, MMIC and wafer type and size
• Market players at device, epiwafer and wafer level for RF GaN including SEDI, Wolfspeed, Qorvo, NXP, SICC, Coherent, Macom and from 2021 to present by M$US revenue
• Track supply chain & Fab capacity GaN-on-SiC and GaN-on-Si

Sumitomo Electric Device Innovations (SEDI), Qorvo, Wolfspeed, NXP, SICC, IQE, Coherent, and more.

About the authors

RF GaN Compound Semiconductor Market Monitor timeline and scope

• Definition of estimated market
• Open and captive market
• Applicative RF electronics market segments

2-page summary

GaN RF Monitor : changes since the previous quarter and what to look out for in the coming quarters

Compound semiconductor-based RF market comparative analysis

• RF devices as a function of power and frequency
• Technological requirements by application
• Device revenue market shares: GaN vs. Silicon

RF GaN market overview

• RF GaN market dynamics
• Open RF GaN epiwafer market dynamics
• RF GaN S.I. SiC wafer market dynamics
• RF GaN device revenue
• Open RF GaN epiwafer revenue
• Open + captive RF GaN epiwafer shipments
• Open RF GaN epiwafer shipments
• RF GaN S.I. SiC substrate revenue
• RF GaN S.I. SiC substrate shipments
• RF GaN epiwafer pricing
• RF GaN S.I. SiC substrate pricing
• Quarterly RF GaN device revenue
• Quarterly RF GaN epiwafer revenue
• Quarterly RF GaN S.I. SiC substrate revenue

RF GaN market forecasts

• RF GaN device revenue by segment
• RF GaN device market shares by segment
• Open RF GaN epiwafer revenue by segment
• Open RF GaN epiwafer market shares by segment
• RF GaN S.I. SiC substrate revenue by segment
• RF GaN S.I. SiC substrate market shares by segment

RF GaN technology

• RF GaN device market by device type
• RF GaN bare die market shares by device type
•  RF GaN device revenue by technology platform ($M)
• S.I. SiC substrate development timeline
• RF GaN S.I. SiC substrate revenue by substrate size (by value)
• RF GaN S.I. SiC substrate volume by substrate size
• Open RF GaN epiwafer volume by substrate type
• Open RF GaN epiwafer revenue by substrate size

RF GaN market players

• Supply chain and business model
• Suppliers' capacity
• Sumitomo Electric Device Innovations (SEDI)  - RF GaN device revenue
• Qorvo - RF GaN device revenue
• Wolfspeed - RF GaN device revenue
• RF GaN: Fab locations
• IQE  - RF GaN epiwafer revenue
• Wolfspeed - RF GaN epiwafer revenue
• Wolfspeed – RF GaN S.I. SiC substrate revenue
• Coherent (renamed from II-VI) – RF GaN S.I. SiC substrate revenue
• SICC– RF GaN S.I. SiC substrate revenue
• Others – RF GaN activities

Terminology and definitions

• Acronyms
• Explanation and methodology
• Formulas used
• Terminology at substrate, epitaxy and device level

Yole Group Presentation