China's car market, as the biggest in the world, can provide enough momentum to allow the country to develop a self-sufficient supply chain amid expanding US trade sanctions, according to industry sources.
Ever-rising demand for electrical vehicles (EVs) is driving fast development of IGBT (insulated gate bipolar transistor) module applications, prompting Chinese semiconductor players such as BYD Semiconductor and StarPower Semiconductor to strengthen deployments in diverse voltages of IGBT solutions to meet the huge EV market demand in China, according to industry sources.
Gallium nitride (GaN) has been rapidly adopted in mass-market small-voltage chargers and is now making inroads into automotive on-board chargers (OBC), according to Andy Chuang, VP of business development at GaN Systems.
The consumer electronics, PC communication, automotive, industrial control, and medical fields have been the pillars of the Chinese MCU application market. Recently, with the consumer electronics market entering a low period, the market has continued to be bullish on the potential of the automotive sector. This has resulted in Chinese MCU suppliers fighting to break into the mid-to-high-end sectors.
Germany-based chipmaker Infineon will be collaboraing with Tier-1 supplier Continental in the development of server-based vehicle architecture, according to an announcement made on March 13.
Switzerland-based STMicroelectronics (ST) has announced on March 9 its TSU111H 5V automotive operational amplifier with micro-power current consumption and 150°C operating-temperature capability.
China's annual Two Sessions meeting of the National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) began on March 4. According to a report from DRAMeXchange, several chip industry representatives were elected to the NPC and CPPCC. These companies include HHGrace, Xuzhou B&C chemical, GAC Group, and others. They offered their suggestions on topics like chip design, car chips, AI chips, IC material, and IC talent cultivation.
While Tesla aims to reduce the amount of silicon carbide (SiC) components by 75%, sources in the related industrial sectors nevertheless believe that SiC, with its good heat resistance capability, will remain mainstream in the application of automotive inverters. However, it is inevitable for major IDMs and automotive supply chain players to work on the further reduction of chip size and maintain high power density. A return to silicon-based IGBT or a mixed solution would also shed more light on the advanced packaging.
China smartphone vendor Xiaomi has set up a CNY10 billion (US$1.43 billion) fund with other partners to invest in companies dedicated to developing chip technologies related to AI, smart manufacturing and automotive electronics.
Israel-based Weebit Nano and US-based SkyWater Technology have announced the availability of Weebit's resistive RAM (ReRAM) IP in SkyWater's 130nm CMOS (S130) process. SkyWater customers can now easily integrate Weebit's non-volatile memory (NVM) in their system-on-chip (SoC) designs.
LiDAR, a light sensing technology that creates a 3D map of a car's surroundings, is used in partial automation as a short-term objective, and is set to help achieve fully autonomous vehicles on a long-term horizon. LiDAR can be divided into different categories: mechanical, hybrid solid-state, optical phase array (OPA), and flash LiDAR. The well-known players include Velodyne, InnovizOne, Quanergy, and Leddartech.
Taiwan-based leadframe suppliers including Chang Wah Technology (CWTC), Jih Lin Technology and Shuen Der Industry (SDI) are seen as beneficiaries as more IDMs offer automotive silicon carbide (SiC) power modules, according to industry sources.
US-based semiconductor manufacturer Onsemi announced on March 6 a long-term supply agreement (LTSA) with BMW AG (BMW) for onsemi's EliteSiC technology in the German premium car manufacturer's electric drivetrains for 400 V DC Bus. onsemi's latest EliteSiC 750 V M3 die is used in a full bridge power module delivering several hundred kWs of power.
Nanya Technology has achieved safety certification for its automotive LPDDR4 series from SGS-TUV, while Winbond Electronics is working to advance its manufacturing nodes to expand its car-use product portfolio.
