As a new type of power semiconductor device, IGBT is the core component in the field of industrial control and automation. Its function is similar to that of human heart, and it can adjust the voltage, current, frequency and phase in the circuit according to the signal instructions in the device, so as to achieve the purpose of precise regulation. Therefore, IGBT is called "CPU" in power electronics industry, and is widely used in new energy vehicles, consumer electronics, rail transit, smart grid, aerospace and other fields.
First, the industrial chain
Upstream of IGBT industry chain are suppliers of semiconductor materials and semiconductor equipment; The middle reaches are the design, manufacture, packaging and testing process of IGBT chips. IGBT can be divided into IGBT single tube, IGBT module and intelligent power module (IPM) according to the packaging form of products. Downstream is widely used in new energy vehicles, consumer electronics, photovoltaic power generation, industrial control, smart grid, rail transit and other industries.
Second, industry upstream analysis
1. Market size of semiconductor materials
Semiconductor materials are a kind of electronic materials whose conductivity is between conductor and insulator, which can be used to make semiconductor devices and integrated circuits. In recent years, driven by emerging fields such as automotive electronics, 5G communication and intelligent terminals, the integrated circuit industry has continued to maintain steady development, and the scale of domestic semiconductor materials industry has also continued to grow. In 2022, the domestic semiconductor material market size is about 91.44 billion yuan, up 21.9% year-on-year, and it is estimated that the market size will increase to 102.434 billion yuan in 2023.
Figure 1: Forecast Trend Chart of China's Semiconductor Materials Market Scale from 2017 to 2023 (* Data Source: SEMI, compiled by China Business Research Institute)
2. Market structure of semiconductor materials
According to the application links, semiconductor materials can be divided into two categories: front-end wafer manufacturing materials and back-end packaging materials. In 2021, the global market size of wafer manufacturing materials is US $40.4 billion, and the market size of packaging materials is US $23.9 billion, accounting for 63% and 37% respectively.
Wafer fabrication materials mainly include silicon wafer, photoresist and matching reagents, photomask, electronic special gas, wet electronic chemicals, sputtering target, CMP grinding pad and grinding fluid, etc. From the market structure of wafer manufacturing materials, silicon wafers account for the largest proportion of wafer manufacturing materials, accounting for about 35%, while electronic special gas, photomask, photoresist and its auxiliary materials, and wet electronic chemicals account for 13%, 12%, 8% and 7% respectively.
Figure 2: Global market structure of wafer manufacturing materials in 2021 (* Data source: SEMI, organized by China Business Research Institute)
3. Market size of semiconductor equipment
Due to the gradual strengthening of export control of semiconductors abroad, the differentiation of supply chain lineup of semiconductor industry and the acceleration of localization of semiconductor equipment, the market scale of semiconductor equipment in China has increased significantly, and it has become the largest semiconductor equipment market in the world. Data show that the market size of China's semiconductor equipment in 2022 is about 274.515 billion yuan, up 58.1% year-on-year. China Business Research Institute predicts that the market size of semiconductor equipment will reach 303.2 billion yuan in 2023.
Figure 3: Forecast trend chart of China's semiconductor equipment market scale from 2017 to 2023 (* Data source: SEMI, compile by China Business Research Institute)
4. Semiconductor Equipment Market Structure
From the perspective of subdivided product structure, in the global semiconductor equipment market, the market scale of wafer manufacturing equipment accounts for more than 85%, among which the main core equipment such as lithography machine, etching machine and thin film deposition equipment account for more than 20%. In addition, the market share of test equipment and packaging equipment is about 7%.
Figure 4: Proportion of global semiconductor equipment product structure in 2021 (%) (* Data source: SEMI compile by China Business Research Institute)
Third, the industry mid-stream analysis
1. IGBT market size
IGBT is one of the fastest developing power semiconductor devices. According to Yole data, the global IGBT market size is about 6.8 billion US dollars in 2022, benefiting from the substantial increase in demand in new energy vehicles, new energy, industrial control and other fields. It is estimated that the global IGBT market size will reach 8.4 billion US dollars in 2026. China is the largest IGBT market in the world, accounting for about 40% of the global IGBT market. It is estimated that the IGBT market in China will reach 52.2 billion yuan by 2025.
Figure 5: Global IGBT Market Scale Forecast Trend Chart from 2020 to 2026 (* Data Source: Yole, compile by China Business Research Institute)
2. Output of IGBT
IGBT is called "CPU" in power electronics industry, and is widely used in motor energy saving, rail transit, new energy vehicles and other fields. At present, technological breakthroughs have been achieved in the field of rail transit. In the field of new energy vehicles, IGBT is the core device of electronic control system and DC charging pile, and the output of IGBT in China is increasing rapidly. In 2019, 2020 and 2021, the output of IGBT in China was 15.5 million, 20.2 million and 25.8 million respectively, and it is estimated that the output will increase to 36.24 million by 2023.
Figure 6: Forecast trend chart of IGBT output in China from 2017 to 2023 (* Data source: Yole and China Business Research Institute)
3. Localization rate of IGBT
IGBT is a key supporting project in China's major scientific and technological breakthrough projects. Since 2015, China's IGBT self-sufficiency rate has exceeded 10% and gradually increased. It is estimated that China's IGBT self-sufficiency rate will reach 32.9% in 2023. Based on the requirements of localization of core components put forward in relevant national policies, domestic substitution has become the development trend of domestic IGBT industry and the main driving factor to promote the development of enterprises in the industry.
Figure 7: Forecast chart of China's IGBT self-sufficiency rate from 2017 to 2023 (%) (* Data source: Yole, compile by China Business Research Institute)
4. Market competition situation
China's IGBT industry started late, and the market was mainly monopolized by foreign enterprises. Data show that the market share of the top three enterprises in the industry totaled 51%. Among them, INFINEON accounted for the largest proportion, reaching 27%; MITSUBISHI ranked second, accounting for 14%; ONSEMI accounted for 10%, ranking third. Among local enterprises, SILAN Microelectronics accounts for 3.5% and 2.2% of the global IGBT single tube and IPM market, ranking eighth in the world; STAR power Semiconductors account for 3.0% of the global IGBT module market, ranking sixth in the world.
Figure 8: Global IGBT market competition pattern (%) (* Data source: China Business Industry Research Institute)
IV. Industry downstream analysis
1. Proportion of IGBT downstream application market
Among the downstream application fields of IGBT, new energy vehicles, consumer electronics and industrial control are the most important application fields. The market of new energy vehicles accounts for 31%, and consumer electronics accounts for 27%. Industrial control is an important support for IGBT demand, accounting for 20% of the market.
Figure 9: Market share of IGBT downstream application fields in China (%) (* Data source: TRENDFORCE, and China Business Industry Research Institute)
2. Production and sales of new energy vehicles
In recent years, the government has issued a number of policies to support the development of new energy vehicles including pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles in China, and China has become the largest new energy vehicle market in the world. In 2022, the production and sales of new energy vehicles in China reached 7.058 million and 6.887 million respectively, up 96.9% and 93.4% year-on-year.
Figure 10: Statistical Chart of Production and Sales of New Energy Vehicles in China from 2017 to 2022 (* Data Source: China Automobile Association and China Business Industry Research Institute)
3. Size of consumer electronics market
Consumer electronics are mainly electronic products for the mass consumer market, including personal computers, mobile phones and color TVs. China's consumer electronics industry has developed rapidly and has become the world's leading frontier market for consumer electronics products. Data show that the scale of China's consumer electronics market was 1,612 billion yuan in 2017, and increased to about 1,864.9 billion yuan in 2022.
Figure 11: Forecast trend chart of China's consumer electronics market scale from 2017 to 2022 (* Data source: Statista, compile by China Business Industry Research Institute)
Source: China Business Industry Research Institute
