Vehicle Electrification Ensures Promising Future for IGBT Devices

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IGBT devices are part of all power electronics applications: this market will be multiplied by 1.8 between 2014 and 2020, reaching US$ 6.2B in 2020, announces Yole Développement (Yole). The first IGBT devices commercialized 30 years ago had a voltage breakdown around 1,100V. Since then, power range has broadened to 400V - 6,500V, allowing IGBT to enter all segments.

According to the latest Yole’s analysis entitled “IGBT Technology & Market Trends” (July 2015 edition), the IGBT devices market growth will not stop there: indeed the vehicle electrification ensures a promising future for IGBT devices.

In this IGBT technology and market analysis, Yole highlights the dynamism of this market: boosted by the electric vehicle market, impacted by the Chinese companies willing to compete European and Japanese leaders and challenged by the latest innovative technologies at the module level, especially the packaging, this market presents a 10% CAGR between 2014 and 2020.

Yole’s analysts propose a comprehensive analysis of the IGBT devices market considering the voltage range, package type and application. Thanks to the daily discussions, Yole’s analysts perform with the power electronic leaders and key players, the team have a deep understanding of the market’s evolution and technical challenges.

With this methodology, the market research and strategy consulting company provides a detailed description of the IGBT players in this report, with their strategy and associated market shares.

“Vehicle electrification is heavily impacting the IGBT market, with huge volumes and significant added value because of the power modules used”, confirms Coralie Le Bret, Technology & Market Analyst at Yole. Vehicle volume will be critical by 2018, and the IGBT devices market for electrified vehicles will more than triple over the next six years. And Coralie Le Bret adds: “By 2020, we expect electrified vehicles to represent almost 50% of the IGBT market.”

IGBT devices market, with a 10% CAGR between 2014 and 2010, is clearly stimulated by the electric vehicles market and its own maturity. Under its report, Yole’s team announces the main technology & market trends:

• IGBTs for the consumer and white goods markets are expected to lose market share over time.
• Other markets including grid, photovoltaics, and UPS driven by data center growth, are very dynamic.
• In terms of voltage evolution, high and very high voltage IGBTs will gain market share in the coming years.

Yole’s IGBT analysis proposes updated IGBT market forecasts, with a split by voltage and application. Sub-segments are also analyzed for each of the six main power electronics applications, and a comparison with Yole’s 2013 report’s market forecasts is also provided. A detailed description of this report is available on i-micronews.com, power electronics report section.