SAN FRANCISCO — The power transistor market is poised for steady growth after five years of sluggishness brought about by inventory corrections, economic uncertainty and price erosion, according to market research firm IC Insights.
Power transistor revenue is projected to grow by 6 percent this year to a record $13.6 billion, according to IC Insights' 2017 0-S-D report. The market grew by 5 percent last year after suffering a 7 percent decline in 2015, according to the firm.
The power transistor market's projected growth this year is expected to push it past the record of $13.5 billion it set way back in 2011, IC Insights said. The market declined in three of the past five years since, the firm said.
With the market for power transistors now stabilized, IC Insights projects steady growth for the next several years.
Power transistors are the biggest slice of the $23 billion discrete semiconductor market because they play a vital role in controlling and conditioning electricity for all types of electronics, including a growing number of battery-operated systems, according to IC Insights (Scottsdale, Ariz.). Efforts to increase the efficiency of electrical grids throughout the world in recent years have significantly increased the importance of power transistors in consumer, commercial, and industrial systems, according to the market research firm.
All power transistor technology categories are expected to register sales growth in 2017 with MOS field effect transistor (FET) products projected to grow 6 percent to nearly $7.7 billion. Insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) products are expected to grow by 6 percent to reach $4.1 billion this year, with bipolar junction transistor products projected to grow 4 percent to about $875 million and RF/microwave power transistors and module sales forecast to rise 3 percent to $960 million, according to the O-S-D Report, a comprehensive analysis and forecast of the markets for optoelectronics, sensors/actuators and discrete semiconductors.
—Dylan McGrath is the editor-in-chief of EE Times.
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