Infineon’s closest competitor lags behind with 7.0%. Energy-saving power semiconductors can be found in a wide variety of devices ranging from the kitchen microwave oven all the way to large-scale wind power turbines. They help to efficiently generate, transport and convert power. IHS shows the world market for power semiconductors growing by 6.3% in 2014 to $16.2bn.
“Through organic growth and the acquisition of International Rectifier we’ve made our leadership position for power semiconductors even stronger compared to the global competition,” says Dr. Reinhard Ploss, CEO of Infineon Technologies AG. “Our leading technology expertise and our system understanding mean we will profit disproportionately from the forecasted growth.” The IHS study predicts a growing demand for power semiconductors particularly in the automotive and industry business sectors through 2019.
A look at the sub-markets for IGBT modules, discrete IGBTs and MOSFETs shows how robust Infineon’s position is: In these segments Infineon was the sole player to significantly increase market share. During the report year 2014 Infineon’s MOSFET market share grew from 26.4 to 27.8%, while the second largest competitor reached 10.5%. Infineon grew its stake in the discrete IGBT market from 34.7 to 38.5%, with its nearest competitor trailing behind with 14.1% of the market. And as the second-ranked player in the IGBT module segment, Infineon raised its market share from 21.4% to 23.2%, narrowing the gap to the segment leader by slightly more than two to now only about three percentage points.
Power semiconductors are used to convert electric energy and control electric devices, machines and systems. In motor vehicles they’re used in the powertrain, convenience electronics (power window mechanisms, etc.) and safety systems (such as power steering). In EVs and HEVs they control the electric motors and manage the battery charging process. Power semiconductors are also used for motor control in high-speed and regional trains as well as in smaller commuter and subway trains. Other application areas are wind power and photovoltaic systems, power supplies for servers, notebooks, smartphones, tablets, entertainment electronics and mobile communications infrastructure as well as light management systems.