Charger chips to lead power IC growth

The worldwide market for eight major types of power supply and power management ICs is set to increase from US $9 billion in 2005 to about US $16.7 billion in 2010 at a CAGR of 13.1%.

A recent study by Venture Development Corp forecasts the worldwide market for eight major types of power supply and power management integrated circuits will increase from US $9 billion in 2005 to about US $16.7 billion in 2010 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.1%.

Growth in the power supply and power management IC market is being fuelled by a rapidly increasing number of applications coupled with the need to increase efficiency of already existing products.

In particular, many new consumer products are hitting the market that require PSICs, especially portable devices.

Consumers are demanding more applications be made mobile and that battery life be extended for these products.

In addition to many new applications being developed, there is increasing demand around the world for more efficient power supplies in products which already use PSICs, as energy costs increase.

A final factor fueling strong growth in the PSICs market is brisk expansion of emerging Asia-Pacific markets such as in China and India.

Among the eight major PSIC types studied, the largest worldwide market growth rate is forecast for battery charging and battery management ICs, at a 16.8% CAGR through 2010.

A high shipment growth rate for these products (which includes battery charging, fuel gauge, battery protection and smart battery ICs) is being driven principally by demand for portable applications, and the push by government agencies and consumers for better efficiency in battery-powered electronics.

Among these products, shipments of smart battery ICs are forecast to be the fastest growing, due to the fact that portable devices are becoming increasingly complicated and require communication between different pieces of the power management system.

Double-digit growth rates are forecast for all the major IC types except linear regulators (which includes LDO, negative, and positive types).

The market growth rate for these is forecast to be much slower as linear power supplies are displaced in applications by more efficient switching power supplies.

Some switching power supplies also will utilise linear regulator chips, but in much lower volume than the number of linear regulators utilised by linear power supplies.

Linear regulator ICs especially nonLDOs, tend to be commodity items.

These products are more likely to be overstocked and overproduced as IC manufacturers invest in production capacity in the next few years.

Double digit growth rates in unit shipments for linear regulators should continue through 2010, although slowing, but revenues will be forced down by falling prices caused by an excess supply of aging products.

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