Slowing growth and new trends
🟦SiC Power Devices Market 2024
The annual growth rate of industry revenue for SiC power devices is expected to slow significantly in 2024 compared to the previous year. The market grew significantly in 2023 due to the growing penetration of BEVs, but the growth rate is expected to slow from 2024 onwards. However, the market as a whole is projected to continue to grow due to the growing adoption of SiC power devices in fields such as AI servers and industrial robots.
In 2023, the five major SiC suppliers, ST, onsemi, Infineon, Wolfspeed, and ROHM, accounted for the majority of the market share at 92.2%. These companies are actively investing in the construction of SiC plants, the expansion of production capacity, and technological development, and are expected to continue to increase their market share.
🟦 Economies of scale are key
Since the production of SiC power devices requires advanced technology and equipment, costs can be reduced by increasing production volumes. As a result, economies of scale are becoming more important, and leading IDM manufacturers are actively investing and expanding their production capacity.
Trends of major SiC suppliers:
- STMicroelectronics plans to build a full-process SiC plant and start operations at a joint venture plant in China.
- Onsemi: Expansion of SiC wafer plant and acquisition of GTAT to improve the self-sufficiency rate of SiC substrate materials.
- Infineon: Strong automotive business, accelerating capacity expansion.
- Wolfspeed: Significant increase in material production capacity, first-mover advantage in SiC materials for automotive-grade SiC substrates.
- ROHM plans to acquire the Solar Frontier Kunitomi Plant and start production of 8-inch SiC substrates.
🟦Summary
The SiC power device industry is expected to continue to grow in the future. In this context, it is important for each company to promote technological innovation and cost reduction to strengthen its competitiveness. Another important issue is the development of new markets such as AI servers and industrial robots.
When economies of scale become important, Infineon is expected to be in an advantageous position as a major player. In order for ROHM to establish its dominance in the market, it is necessary to secure a first-mover advantage.
