Compound Semiconductor Market – An Emerging Technology
The compound semiconductor market has been growing in recent years and it is estimated to attain a market size of US$102.764 billion in 2026 from US$50.606 billion in 2019, growing at a CAGR of 10.65%.
Compound semiconductor are made from two or more elements of the same or different group of the periodic table. Most of the compound semiconductor are made from the combination of elements from Group 5 and Group 3 of the period table of elements (GaAs, InP, and others). While other compound semiconductor is made from Group 2 and 4 (CdTe, ZnSe, and others). These are manufactured by using various types of deposition techniques such as atomic layer deposition, chemical vapor deposition and others. Semiconductors can be made using different elements within the same group to make compound semiconductor such as Silicon Carbide (SiC).
The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and its subsequent pandemic has impacted every industry including the compound semiconductor market. The lockdown globally disrupted the distribution channel and the manufacturers had to halt their operation in the manufacturing units. The brighter side of the coronavirus for the industry is that with the increase in the network service as a stay at home was widely adopted increased the demand for the broadband activity which had a positive impact on the revenue stream of the operator. In addition, most of the countries are adopting the robots during the pandemic. The disinfection robot UVD has been in high demand since the outbreak of Covid-19. Chinese hospitals have demand more than 2000 UVD robots from Blue Ocean Robotics.
Market Players included in the report of the compound semiconductor market are Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd., Toshiba Corporation, SCIOCS, Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, Qorvo, Inc, Texas Instruments Incorporated, GaN Systems, and Kyma Technologies.
Market Size
The compound semiconductor market on the basis of region is segmented as North America, South America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Middle East & Africa. Asia Pacific region is expected to witness the fastest growth during the forecasted period on account of increasing demand for automation, wireless technologies, electronic devices, established semiconductor, electronics industry and transportation industry.
The majority of the market players of the region are based out of China, South Korea and Taiwan. In addition, Asia Pacific region have large quantity of the raw material suppliers along with low labour cost. Radar, electronic warfare (EW), and communication systems are increasingly leveraging gallium nitride (GaN) technology in the defence sector to meet stringent high-performance, high-power, and long-life cycle demands and thus replacing laterally diffused MOSFET (LDMOS) components. For instance, China has replaced the Travelling Wave Tubes (TWT) with smaller solid-state systems as it delivers higher performance and scalability in the radar systems.
While, North America and Europe region is expected to witness a boost in the demand for the compound semiconductor on account of expansion of defence, aerospace and IT & Telecommunication industry in the region. In addition, the presence of the key players in this region will further boost the market demand of compound semiconductor. Qorvo, Inc. won the United States Government Project in November 2020 to create the State-of-the-Art (SOTA) Heterogeneous Integrated Packaging (SHIP) RF production and prototyping center.
The compound semiconductor market on the basis of type is segmented as Group II-VI, Group III-V and Group IV-IV.
The compound semiconductor market on the basis of Fabrication Process is segmented as Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxy (HVPE), Metalorganic Vapor Phase Epitaxy (MOVPE), Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) and Others.
The compound semiconductor market on the basis of End-User Industry is segmented as Automotive, Communication and Technology, Consumer Electronics, Healthcare. Energy and Power and Others. The automotive industry is adopting the compound semiconductor for the power device in the segments for instance, it is used in charging infrastructure and EV/HEV. With rising environmental concern, the demand for the electronic vehicles is growing which is boosting the market growth of compound semiconductor.
Market Growth
Compound semiconductor are more fragile and have large application bases such as it can be used in the electronic wafer, electronic film’s coatings, fabrication of integrated circuits which is increasing the market demand for the compound semiconductor. Compound semiconductor possess the unique properties such as enhanced frequency, faster operation, high temperature, high sensitivity to magnetism, optoelectronic features and heat resistance which are the some of the key factors which are boosting the market growth.
However, the high cost involved in the complete industry processes in the supply chain which are restraining the compound semiconductor market growth. The estimated cost of the all-supply chain operations per compound semiconductor are higher than the average price per pure silicone semi-conductor device as both of the systems are complicated, use innovated technology, modern and include state-of-art high-priced equipment. Further there is lack of expertise and familiarity in the executives and engineering community of the compound semiconductor.
Technology
The growing industrial automation has gained the adoption of the computer and machines for the efficient and effective control of the systems. The compound semiconductor devices are playing the key role in ensuring the efficient power consumption within the reduced size of application as they can withstand the elevated temperature and voltage thus making them ideal component.
According to the International Federation of Robotics report of 2019, Asia recorded the maximum number of annual installations of the industrial robots. Korea, Japan and China accounted for 11,034, 17,364 and 39,351 unites respectively and approximately 80% of the total installation of the industrial robot were in the automotive sector. The telecommunication industry is expected to boost the compound semiconductor demand majorly due to the increasing adoption of 5G and LTE network. This is largely driven by the introduction of the smartphone which are powered by the GaAs-based solar cells and the increase in the adoption of the number of smartphones and other devices in the market. The increasing adoption of the smartphones globally due to the availability of the low-cost device and increasing penetration of the internet.
This is leading to high demand of the This is encouraging the key players of the smartphone to focus and offer the developed and innovated devices. For instance, most of the manufacturers are developing solar-powered smartphone with most efficient semiconductor to capture the high amount of light and offer longer battery life. Xiaomi filed a design patent in 2019 to indicate that the company is working towards the solar-powered smartphone with solar phone on the back of the phone, thus, providing the alternative charging method and being most environmentally friendly.
