February/March 2021

11 www.power-mag.com Issue 1 2021 Power Electronics Europe MARKET NEWS being worth $2.7 billion by 2025. Following Tesla’s adoption of SiC in its main inverter, automotive has become the killer application for SiC. Since then, SiC has entered the priority list of almost all carmakers. While Chinese BYD has also chosen SiC in its premium models in 2020, Audi, Volkswagen, and Hyundai are expected to adopt SiC in their next generation models. Despite the global slowdown in H1-2020 due to the Covid-19 outbreak, design wins for SiC solutions have recently multiplied, with a bright market outlook for 2019-2025 period. In this context, the SiC automotive market is expected to grow to exceed $1.5 billion in 2025, with a 38 % CAGR. Along with EV applications, SiC is of great interest to the charging infrastructure market, which is growing significantly. Indeed, high power chargers can benefit from SiC’s higher efficiency and higher frequency by offering more compact solutions than Silicon IGBTs. The market size is expected to reach $225 million in 2025 with a 90 % CAGR between 2019 and 2025. Besides automotive, applications such as PV, rail and motor drives will also show double-digit CAGR in the 2019-2025 period. High-power traction inverters represent a huge new business opportunity for suppliers of SiC devices, suitable device packaging solutions, and SiC-based systems. Also, interest in GaN has recently revived, mainly as a potential candidate for future EV/HEV 12 – 48 VDC converters and onboard chargers. “Tier 1s are increasing their efforts in EV/HEV-related products. However, OEMs are becoming more and more intrusive, particularly in main inverters, with the objective of controlling the key EV/HEV elements. Established semiconductor device suppliers are in a similar situation, on the one hand facing the entrance of some Tiers 1s in the device market, and addressing challengers from the emergence of WBG devices on the other”, commented analyst Milan Rosina. More generally, the market outlook for SiC devices looks promising. This market will reach a 30 % CAGR for the 2019-2025 period, according to Yole’ Power SiC report 2020. Since the commercialization of the first SiC device in 2001, SiC devices performances and the value have been gradually proven. Their price has also become increasingly attractive for the end users. For the GaN power market, the adoption of GaN HEMTs for Oppo’s in-box fast charger at the end of 2019 boosted the penetration of this material. Indeed, several phone makers such as Vivo, Realme and Meizu rushed to adopt GaN-based in-box fast chargers for their flagships released in early 2020. Also other players, such as Samsung and Xiaomi, have opted for GaN accessory chargers. “The GaN journey has just started with the end-consumer mass market where it will gain volume production. In a few years, it will also expand in the automotive and industrial market”, said analyst Ahmed Ben Slimane. www.yole.fr market value of almost $3.4 billion. This market’s promising outlook is beneficial for the power module packaging material business. The power module packaging material market will achieve a 2019-2025 CAGR of 11 %,