Power Electronics Europe February/March 2022

9 www.power-mag.com Issue 1 2022 Power Electronics Europe MARKET NEWS usage in OBC (on board chargers) and DC/DC converters has been relatively mature, whereas the mass production of SiC-based VFDs has yet to reach a large scale. Power semiconductor suppliers including STM, Infineon, Wolfspeed, and Rohm have started collaborating with Tier 1 suppliers and automakers in order to accelerate SiC deployment in automotive applications. It should be pointed out that the upstream supply of SiC substrate materials will become the primary bottleneck of SiC power device production, since SiC substrates involve complex manufacturing processes, high technical barriers to entry, and slow epitaxial growth. The vast majority of n-Type SiC substrates used for power semiconductor devices are 6 inches (150 mm) in diameter. Although major IDMs such as Wolfspeed have been making good progress in 8-inch (299 mm) SiC wafer development, more time is required for not only raising yield rate, but also transitioning power semiconductor fabs from 150-mm to 200-mm. Thus 150-mm SiC substrates will likely remain the mainstream for at least five more years. On the other hand, with the EV market undergoing an explosive growth and SiC power devices seeing increased adoption in automotive applications, SiC costs will in turn directly determine the pace of 800 V charging architecture deployment in EVs. Also, due to material shortages caused by insufficient semiconductor supply, power management IC (PMIC) prices remain on an upward trend, according to TrendForce. Average selling price (ASP) for 1H 2022 is forecast to increase by nearly 10 %, reaching a record six year high. In terms of the global supply chain, in addition to the production capacity of major IDM manufacturers including TI, Infineon, ADI, STMicroelectronics, NXP, ON Semiconductor, Renesas, Microchip, ROHM (Maxim has been acquired by ADI and Dialog by Renesas), IC design houses such as Qualcomm and MediaTek (MTK) have obtained a certain level of production capacity from foundries. Of these, TI is in a leadership position and the aforementioned companies possess a combined market share of over 80 %. Recovery in the automotive market and rapid growth in electric vehicles, automotive electronics, and advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) have increased demand in power source control and management and charging technology. In addition, automotive-use ICs are required to pass a number of inspections and must guarantee consistency and a zero failure rate. Currently, IDM companies’ automotive IC order backlog stretches until the end of 2022. Due to factors such as production running at full capacity and a shortage of raw materials, PMIC suppliers have currently announced longer lead times with consumer electronic IC lead times increasing to 12~26 weeks, automotive IC lead times reaching 40~52 weeks, and a cessation of orders for certain exclusive production models. Led by IDM companies, PMIC pricing will remain high. Despite variables related to the pandemic and the difficulties of greatly increasing 8-inch wafer production capacity, TI’s new fab RFAB2 will begin mass production in 2H22. In addition, due to the plans of foundries to carry forward a portion of 8-inch wafer PMIC manufacturing to 12-inch, there is a high likelihood of a moderation in PMIC shortages. However, close attention must still be paid to changes in future market supply. TrendForce further indicates that the growth of the EV market and improvements in ADAS have resulted in a twofold increase in automotive MLCC consumption. While EVs’ electrified drivetrain and high safety requirements represent a high barrier to entry for MLCC suppliers, these hurdles have also in turn raised MLCC products’ ASP and profitability. Hence, the automotive electronics industry has been increasing its annual MLCC demand by double-digits in recent years. In particular, an analysis of different vehicles and their respective MLCC consumption reveals the following: a conventional EV requires 2.2 times the MLCC usage of a conventional gasoline vehicle, an ADAS-equipped EV requires 2.7 times, and an autonomous EV requires as much as 3.3 times. Regarding MLCC suppliers, Japanese companies including Murata, TDK, and Taiyo Yuden continue to dominate the automotive MLCC market. These suppliers will expand their production capacities for automotive applications in overseas facilities in China, Philippines, and Malaysia next year, with powertrains, ADAS, and connected systems being among the most significant of the aforementioned applications. Korea-based Samsung, on the other hand, specializes in powertrain applications by leveraging its MLCC offerings’ small form factor, high capacitance, and high voltage. Finally, Taiwanese suppliers, such as Yageo and Walsin, are actively invested in developing automotive products and High-Q products for RF applications in an effort to increase their presence in the infotainment system market and EV charging station market. Looking ahead to 2022, TrendForce expects annual automotive MLCC demand to reach 562 billion pcs, a 25 % YoY increase, primarily attributed to the continued electrification of vehicles. www.trendforce.com/