Power GaN: harnessing new horizons

The market for power gallium nitride (GaN) devices is exhibiting strong growth and is likely to see a shift in the share of the largest players over the coming years, as new applications drive demand.

The market for power gallium nitride (GaN) devices is exhibiting strong growth. It is likely to see a shift in the share of the largest players over the coming years, as new applications drive demand. Today, Taha Ayari, Technology & Market Analyst, Semiconductor Substrates & Materials at Yole Group details the market status and provides us with a detailed understanding of the markets, ecosystems, and the challenges within this market.

Enjoy reading this power GaN snapshot!

Despite a decline in the overall semiconductor industry of around 8.2% in 2023, power GaN revenues grew by 41%. That growth is set to continue in 2024 with a 45% increase, ahead of an acceleration to 65% in 2025, according to Yole Group’s quarterly market monitor report. Revenue is forecast to rise at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 46% over the 2023-2029 period.

Yole Group tracks the power GaN market for a while and develops a dedicated collection of products with:

The mobile and consumer segment currently accounts for most of the market. GaN fast chargers for consumer devices have already become an established commodity, and the use of GaN devices is rapidly expanding into home appliances power supplies and smartphone electronics in overvoltage protection (OVP) units.

GaN technology is also poised to enter the automotive market in large volumes, driven by the electric vehicle boom and its associated demand for onboard chargers, as well as DC-DC converters. Automotive manufacturers are already using GaN in LIDAR and demand is expected to continue expanding. GaN revenue from the automotive and mobility sector could exceed $750 million by 2029, Yole Group predicts.

The telecom and Infrastructure sector is expected to be another source of growth over the coming years, as artificial intelligence increases demand for data center capacity – in turn requiring more power supply. The average selling price (ASP) of the specialized devices these markets require will be higher than the ASP for consumer devices, which will further drive up the sector’s revenues.

The power GaN device market is currently led by Innoscience (Latest news), which had a 31% share of the market in 2023, Power Integration (PI), which accounted for 17%, and Navitas Semiconductor, which held 16%. Other players include EPC, which is exclusively active in supplying low-voltage devices, as well as the likes of Transphorm and Infineon Technologies. 

“In view of the recent M&As announced in the power GAN industry, like Infineon Technologies’ acquisition of GaN Systems and Renesas’ announcement regarding the acquisition of Transphorm, we foresee a change in this ranking in the future. Infineon Technologies’ share will increase, and in the coming years with GaN’s entry into the high-power domain, it can increase even more“, according to Taha.

Of course, other names like Texas Instruments and ST Microelectronics will appear in this ranking, adds Taha Ayari. Some of these players are preparing the ground and when they significantly enter the GaN market they will make an impact. So, in the coming 3-5 years this ranking might change – reflecting the evolution in the ecosystem.

The strong presence of GaN at the recent Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC) confirmed Yole Group’s view that the market is moving forward in terms of innovation and development. There were 19 players throughout the supply chain represented. There was a clear push from device players towards high power applications from a few kW to tens of kW, such as automotive OBC, data center power supply, and solar photovoltaic (PV) inverters. Companies featured reference designs and new products with adapted packaging and features, including TOLL package and protection features.

PI, ST Microelectronics and Infineon Technologies drew attention to new applications in auxiliary power supply for automotive and data centers, and PI also focused on extending GaN to more applications in the consumer market such as home appliance power supplies.

New players indicated they are entering the power GaN market, including Toshiba, which is active in RF GaN, and announced power GaN products roadmap, as well as Taiwan Semiconductor. Navitas is about to release a new bidirectional GaN device, and Infineon is also developing this solution. Bidirectional technology is gaining more attention, as it will enable significant device count reduction in some topologies for power conversion and is likely to be adopted for industrial applications first.

Yole Group continues to track developments in the rapidly expanding power GaN industry. Do not miss the numerous upcoming events and Yole Group’s presentations: CS International – PE International – 2024 InternationalCompound Semiconductor Forum.

Stay tuned!

Taha Ayari, Ph.D., is Technology & Market Analyst, Semiconductor Substrates & Materials at Yole Group.

Taha’s expertise is mainly in power electronics with related WBG materials and emerging semiconductor substrates. He is fully engaged in the development of technology and market products, as well as custom projects.

Taha has two years’ experience as a Technology & Cost Analyst at Yole Group, where he focuses on the development of compound semiconductor reverse engineering & costing analyses.

Prior to Yole Group, Taha was a research engineer at Georgia Tech Lorraine (Metz, France). He published numerous papers with a particular focus on III-N materials.

Taha holds an MSc and a Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, USA).

Source: www.yolegroup.com