GaN Semiconductor Devices Market to Grow at 17% CAGR By 2024 and Reach >US$3.4 Billion

Posted by MSE Supplies on Jan 28, 2017

Market Research illustrates the growth opportunities of the global GaN semiconductor devices at US$3,438.4 million by 2024. The market, which had a valuation of US$870.9 mn in 2015, is expected to exhibit an exponential CAGR of 17.0% over the period between 2016 and 2024, which brings tremendous opportunities for all the players from R&D to device manufacturers and system designers.

As compared to gallium arsenide (GaAS) and silicon carbide (SiC), Gallium nitride (GaN) is a new technology and is a wide band gap semiconductor material. GaN semiconductor devices provide a competitive advantage in terms of thermal performance, efficiency, weight and size. GaN is anticipated to be the next generation power semiconductor and thus different countries are indulged in developing widespread applications of GaN semiconductors. The wide band gap semiconductor technology has matured rapidly over several years. In fact, Gallium Nitride High Electron Mobility Transistors (GaN HEMTs) have been available as commercial off-the-shelf devices since 2005. Recently, the IMEC (Interuniversity Microelectronics Center) in Europe organized a “GaN-on-Si research program” in order to produce an 8 inch GaN-on-Si wafer. However, fully-fledged application of GaN semiconductor devices is still in the nascent stage as compared to silicon semiconductor devices that have been around for more than a decade.

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The GaN semiconductors devices market is primarily being driven by factors such as advancement in technology coupled with the expansion in the application areas for GaN based devices. There has been a rapid advancement in the GaN technology as a result of which various companies are coming up with new innovative products that are cost-effective and have better design and performance. Moreover, in order to address the growing demand for high power and high temperature applications there has been an increase in the usage of GaN semiconductor devices. Compared to Silicon (Si) and Gallium Arsenide (GaAs), gallium nitride is a robust technology and possesses better performance characteristics. GaN semiconductor devices offer high breakdown voltages, saturation velocity, high electron mobility and high thermal conductivity among others. This has enabled the implementation of GaN on a wide basis high frequency RF devices and LEDs. These factors in combination are expected to positively impact the growth of the GaN semiconductor devices globally.

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However one of the major restraints of the GaN semiconductor devices market is the high production cost of pure Gallium nitride as compared to silicon carbide, which has been a dominant semiconductor material for high voltage power electronics for a decade. The various costs involved in the production of GaN devices include cost of substrate, fabrication, packaging, support electronics and development. Thus, high cost is one of the major challenges in the commercialization of GaN based devices. Though producing GaN in large volumes can help overcome these issues, currently, there is no widespread adopted method for growing GaN in bulk due to high operating pressures and temperatures, low material quality and limited scalability.

Some of the major players in the market are: Mersen S.A., Avogy, Inc., Fujitsu Limited, GaN Systems Inc., Cree Inc., NXP Semiconductors N.V., Renesas Electronics Corporation, Toshiba Corporation, Everlight Electronics Co. and Efficient Power Conversion Corporation

The global GaN semiconductor devices market has been segmented into:

Global GaN semiconductor devices market, by Products