At Embedded World 2026, on the DigiKey booth, Paige Hookway speaks with Sven Krumpel, Project Manager ICs & Transformer at RECOM Power about RECOM’s product expansion from modular to discrete solutions.
At the event, RECOM Power announced it is expanding its product portfolio beyond modular power converters to include discrete power ICs, transformers, and smart rectifier ICs. The announcement represents a strategic shift for the 50-year-old company, traditionally known for its modular solutions, towards offering engineers greater flexibility in designing isolated power supplies.
Speaking at the Digi-Key booth, Krumpel, who oversees the new IC and transformer business segment, described the expansion as a logical step for a company with a long-standing focus on power management. “Our goal has always been to provide solutions for customers regardless of application or technology,” he said. “Expanding from modules into discrete solutions is a natural evolution.”
RECOM serves roughly 130,000 customers globally and maintains a catalogue of around 30,000 products. Its newly introduced discrete components are intended as building blocks for engineers, allowing them to select modular or discrete architectures depending on project needs. Krumpel explained that modular converters remain an excellent option for low-volume projects because they offer rapid time-to-market and simplified design. However, as production scales, discrete architectures often provide significant cost savings and greater flexibility in board layout.
Central to the new offering are power driver ICs, transformers, and smart rectifier ICs designed to reduce component count, improve efficiency, and simplify power supply design. The smart rectifiers, in particular, target secondary-side synchronous rectification, eliminating additional board components and lowering both system cost and complexity. These features make the portfolio especially relevant for bus-isolation circuits and gate-driver power supplies, which are widely used across industrial, automotive, and broader electronics markets.
One of RECOM’s key differentiators is its pre-matched combination of ICs and transformers. Traditionally, engineers source semiconductors and magnetics separately, then tune the transformer for their design. By providing a matched combination from a single supplier, RECOM simplifies design cycles and accelerates time-to-market. Evaluation boards are also offered, enabling engineers to test performance and make adjustments before committing to production.
Krumpel emphasised that this approach supports engineers throughout the design lifecycle. “Our slogan is ‘your design, your choice’,” he said. “Engineers can opt for modules or discrete solutions depending on volume, cost pressure, or specific project requirements. Our goal is to support both worlds.”
The initial discrete portfolio focuses on low-power DC-DC conversion, but RECOM plans to expand the range in the coming months and years. The company views this as the beginning of a broader strategy to combine its expertise in modular power with discrete component offerings, enabling engineers to move from rapid prototyping to cost-optimised high-volume production without changing suppliers.
With this expansion, RECOM positions itself at the intersection of traditional modular suppliers, semiconductor manufacturers, and magnetics vendors, offering a unique system-level approach. By integrating ICs and transformers into pre-matched, ready-to-use solutions, the company aims to address both engineering efficiency and competitive cost pressures in the global power electronics market.
Find out more in the interview below.
