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Taiwan power diode and MOSFET suppliers turning focus away from PCs

Julian Ho, Taipei; Jessie Shen, DIGITIMES Asia 0

Credit: DIGITIMES

With PC ODMs and OEMs bracing for a particularly slow second half of 2022, related power diode and MOSFET suppliers have moved to vie for more orders from the power supply system sector where demand is expected to be relatively stable during the latter part of this year, according to industry sources.

Notebook ODMs and OEMs are slowing down their pace of component orders with uncertainty in their order visibility for the rest of this year, said the sources. Falling PC demand has already pushed up small-signal and general-purpose MOSFET inventories.

Taiwan-based power diode and MOSFET suppliers are also looking to step up their deployments in the automotive field, as they are exploring growth beyond PCs for future growth, the sources indicated.

MOSFET makers, such as Advanced Power Electronics, Excelliance MOS, Niko Semiconductor, Sinopower Semiconductor and Force-MOS Technology, and diode specialists including Eris Technology, Panjit International and Taiwan Semiconductor, are all eyeing enormous opportunities arising from an anticipated boom in electric vehicle (EV) demand, the sources said.

Hon Hai Technology Group's (Foxconn) EV push and China's fast-growing new energy vehicle (NEV) industry are both seen as opportunities for Taiwan-based MOSFET and diode companies to grow their presence in the automotive field, which is still dominated by international IDMs, the sources noted.

Advanced Power Electronics, for example, has recently seen XSemi, a joint venture between Foxconn and Yageo, become its largest shareholder paving the way for its entry into Foxconn's EV ecosystem, the sources said.

Diode specialist Panjit is improving its product mixes by strengthening sales generated from orders for power supplies, automotive peripherals and other automotive products, the sources indicated. Also a MOSFET supplier, Panjit saw orders for automotive and industrial products grow as a proportion of company revenue to nearly 38% in the first quarter of 2022, while orders for power supplies came to about 13% as a proportion of revenue.

Eris has already tapped into automotive applications through its parent company Diodes, and continues to lower sales from the consumer electronics sector as a proportion of company revenue. Automotive and industrial products account for 45% of Eris' revenue, the sources said.