The market for semiconductors used in power supplies is forecast to grow by 6.5% in 2013, following a largely flat market for power supplies in 2012, says market analyst IMS Research.
Strongest growth is predicted for MPU/MCU/DSP/DSC products at 35% in 2013.
"The market for digital power alone is forecast to quadruple in the next five years,” said associate director of IMS Research’s power management and conversion group, Ryan Sanderson.
Although digital control is one of the smaller markets for semiconductors used in power supplies, it is projected to grow by $45m from 2012 to 2016 owing to adoption of digital power and advanced power factor correction (PFC) techniques.
Other growth drivers include the increase in demand for power supplies which use synchronous rectification at the output, a trend projected to account for a large part of the $80 million growth forecast for the power MOSFET market from 2012 to 2017.
According to IMS Research, the combined market for AC-DC switching regulators (integrated FET) and switching controllers (external FET) is predicted to grow by $270m in the next five years.
“2012 was a difficult year for many semiconductor vendors who sell into power supplies, with reduced demand from many sectors," said Sanderson.
"Demand from end markets such as notebook PCs and industrial applications, was much weaker than average. Opportunities did exist, however, particularly in tablet PCs and the rapidly expanding market for LED lamps and luminaires. These opportunities are forecast to drive further growth in 2013 and beyond,” said Sanderson.
The full report is available now from IMS Research and includes analysis of five separate power semiconductor discrete products, six separate power IC products and four other semiconductor categories.
