The Zhitong Finance App learned that Jibang Consulting's latest report shows that as Infineon and Texas Instruments (TXN.US) pour more resources into GaN technology, the development of the power GaN industry will once again accelerate. The global GaN power component market is about $0.271 billion in 2023, and is expected to rise to 4.376 billion US dollars by 2030, with a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 49%. Among them, the proportion of non-consumer applications is expected to rise from 23% in 2023 to 48% in 2030, with scenarios such as automobiles, data centers, and motor drives being the core.

AI applications are popular, and GaN is expected to become the hero behind reducing heat and increasing efficiency

The evolution of AI technology is driving demand for computing power to continue to rise, and the power consumption problem of CPU/GPU is becoming more and more prominent. In order to cope with higher-end AI computing, the efficiency and power density of server power supplies must be further improved, and GaN has become one of the key solution technologies. Delta is the world's largest supplier of server power supplies, with a market share of nearly 50%. Looking at the advanced process of its server power supply, the power density has increased from 33.7 W/in3 to 100.3 W/in3 in the past 10 years, while the power level has reached 3.2 kW or even 5.5 kW, and the next generation is expected to reach more than 8 kW.

According to research by Jibang Consulting, AI servers are estimated to account for 12.2% of total server shipments in 2024, an increase of about 3.4% over 2023, while the annual growth rate of general server shipments is only 1.9%.

To seize business opportunities, Infineon and Nanowei Semiconductors both announced technology roadmaps for AI data centers this year. Infineon said that combining liquid cooling technology with GaN has obvious advantages at lower junction temperatures, providing huge opportunities for data centers to maximize efficiency, meet growing electricity demand, and overcome the challenges brought about by increasing server heat generation.

Motor drive scenarios, the potential of GaN's high-frequency characteristics is highlighted

The application potential of GaN is gradually emerging in motor-driving scenarios such as robots. Compared to industrial robots, humanoid robots (Humanoid Robots) have seen a sharp rise in Degrees of Freedom (DoF), and demand for motor drives has increased dramatically. The joint module of the humanoid robot undertakes the main power generation and braking tasks. In order to obtain higher explosive power, it is necessary to configure a motor driver with high power density, high efficiency, and high response. As a result, GaN has attracted market attention, especially in areas with high loads such as legs.

Texas Instruments and EPC (Yipu Power Conversion) continue to promote the application of GaN in the field of motor drives, and continue to attract new players. Robots of the future will be beyond imagination, and accurate, fast, and powerful movement capabilities are the key, and the motors required to drive their movements will also advance, and GaN will benefit from this.

GaN provides new solutions for automotive power electronics

Compared to the boom of SiC in the automotive industry, GaN automotive applications also continue to attract attention from the industry. Among them, on-board chargers (OBC) are regarded as the best breakthrough point. The first power GaN product that complies with automotive AEC-Q101 standards was released by Transphorm (now Renesas Electronics) in 2017. Up to now, many manufacturers have launched a wide range of automotive-grade products.

Overall, although GaN's entry into power system components such as inverters and OBC still faces many technical problems, it is believed that with continued investment from major automotive chip manufacturers such as Infineon and Renesas, GaN will soon become a key player in automotive power components.

Consumer electronics are still the main battleground for GaN

Consumer electronics is the main battleground for the power GaN industry, and it is rapidly expanding from fast chargers to the fields of home appliances, smartphones, etc.

Specifically, GaN has already been used on a large scale in low-power mobile phone fast chargers. Next, GaN will enter the power supply for laptops and home appliances with more stringent reliability requirements. In addition, other potential consumer scenarios include Class-D Audio, smartphone OVP, etc.

Jibang Consulting believes that the power GaN industry is at a critical moment of breakthrough, and several potential applications are simultaneously driving the accelerated growth of the scale of the industry. At the same time, in order to enter more complex high-power and high-frequency scenarios, GaN is expected to introduce new structures and new processes based on reliability, injecting new momentum into industrial development. In addition, judging from the development process of the industry, Fabless (no fab) companies have been active over the past period of time, but with the continuous integration of the industry and the gradual opening up of application markets, the future will see a significant rise in the voice of traditional IDM (integrated device manufacturing) manufacturers, bringing new major variables to the future picture of the industrial landscape.