Compound Semiconductor Market is expected to grow from USD 32.0 billion in 2020 to USD 43.4 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 6.3%. The increasing use of compound semiconductors in LED applications has fueled the demand for compound semiconductors. The growing demand and implementation of GaN and SiC in the semiconductor industry is expected to play a vital role in the growth of the compound semiconductor market.
Major players in the market are:Nichia (Japan), Samsung Electronics (South Korea), ams (Austria), Qorvo (US), Skyworks (US), Cree (US), GaN Systems (Canada), Infineon (Germany), Mitsubishi Electric (Japan), NXP (Netherlands), ON Semiconductor (US)
The compound semiconductor market includes major Tier I and II players like Nichia, Samsung Electronics, ams, Qorvo, and Skyworks. These players have their manufacturing facilities spread across various countries across Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, and RoW. COVID-19 has impacted their businesses as well. Multiple manufacturing facilities of players have shut down due to COVID-19. We expect that the semiconductor industry would decline significantly globally in 2020 due to COVID-19. This also translates into a snowballing effect on the compound semiconductor market. This could lead to lower research expenditure related to compound semiconductors.
Increasing use of GaN in LED and RF devices is expected to result in the segment occupying majority of the compound semiconductor market share
GaN is estimated to have the largest market share by value. GaN has been increasingly used in LED, semiconductor power devices, and radiofrequency (RF) devices. GaN LEDs are used in applications such as general lighting, consumer devices, commercial, and automotive. GaN is mostly used in LED applications owing to its wide-bandgap properties. LED contributes to the largest share of the GaN market. GaN is used to make white LEDs. Increasing demand for GaN LEDs in various applications, such as general lighting, signage, and automobiles, is expected to drive the growth of the GaN market.
GaN is also finding importance in RF devices as GaN devices have the ability to combine high RF power output over broad bandwidths at high frequencies. As industry shifts towards the adoption of 5G networks for >6GHz, band silicon will not be able to meet various requirements of networks as silicon devices operate well below 3GHz. In the higher frequencies being utilized for 5G, such as 3.5 GHz, GaN is more efficient than LDMOS/Silicon devices. Hence GaN will gain traction for 5G applications, particularly for base station power amplifiers
Telecommunication application segment is estimated to be the largest market
Telecommunication application is estimated to be the largest segment in the compound semiconductor market. 5G is providing a huge opportunity for compound semiconductors for telecom applications. The growth of telecommunication application is mainly driven by increasing demand for RF devices. Rapid advancements in the telecom sector are witnessed by developed and emerging countries across the world. The technological shift from 3G to 4G/LTE and now into 5G has increased the network traffic through mobile devices and resulted in increased network interferences across the communication channels. As industry shifts towards the adoption of 5G, RF content used per smartphones expected to increase, this would drive the growth of the market during the forecast period. To meet all the requirements for 4G and 5G, including saturated and linear efficiency, it is necessary to use a power amplifier manufactured with compound semiconductor technology, which is expected to drive the market growth during the forecast period.
APAC likely to emerge as the largest compound semiconductor market
APAC is estimated to be the largest market for compound semiconductors during the forecast period. The rapid market penetration of GaN and SiC in power devices, where GaN and SiC devices are increasingly replacing silicon counterparts, is predominant across several application segments in APAC. For power devices, the growing number of GaN and SiC power applications creates huge revenue potential in this region. This attracts several industry players to mass-commercialize GaN and SiC power devices for several power applications, which, in turn, are increasing the revenue potential of the compound semiconductor market in this region.
