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LED lighting driver IC prices are expected to decline. Faced with increasingly stringent cost requirements for LED bulb manufacturers, driver chip developers are actively adjusting their product development strategies, such as switching to high-voltage processes to produce integrated MOSFET solutions, or enhancing drive functional integration to reduce unit price and shrink material The purpose of the list cost.
Chipmakers are working hard to reduce the price of light-emitting diode (LED) lighting driver ICs. Due to the rapid decline in the unit price of LED chips and the low cost of light machine thermal system, LED lamp manufacturers have turned to LED lighting driver IC manufacturers to reduce prices. In response to this trend, semiconductor companies such as NXP and Infineon have begun to adjust their product development strategies to enhance cost competitiveness.
Start four major strategies NXP spell LED driver IC price cuts
NXP regional marketing director Wang Yongbin said that the largest non-dimming solution in the LED lighting driver IC market, in the past, LED die, optical thermal system (such as housing, optical, heat dissipation, etc.) and LED lighting driver IC solutions each accounted for Non-dimming LED bulbs cost 1:1:1 specific gravity. However, with the rapid decline of LED die prices and the lack of bargaining space for optomechanical thermal systems, the cost ratio of LED driver ICs in non-dimming LED bulbs has rapidly climbed to 50, thus becoming a non-dimming LED bulb. Developers, the primary consideration for cost reduction.
In view of this, NXP has developed a new product strategy to quickly meet the market's requirements for LED lighting driver IC price reduction. Zhang Weichao, lighting product marketing manager of NXP Greater China, pointed out that the company will move to new countries by switching to new high-voltage processes, packaging plants, integrating more functions in LED lighting driver IC solutions, and The big strategy is to reduce the unit price of non-dimming LED lighting driver ICs that integrate high-voltage MOS field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) to $0.20 in 2013.
In fact, among the LED bulbs, the unit price of the high-voltage MOSFET is second only to the LED illumination driver IC. Zhang Weichao stressed that the price of high-voltage MOSFETs has reached 0.1?0.2 US dollars. Therefore, the price of high-integration LED lighting driver ICs is reduced to 0.2-0.4 US dollars, which is extremely difficult. Therefore, new product strategies must be adopted to achieve This goal.
For example, NXP has begun to convert existing SOI-HV high-voltage processes to ABCD3 high-voltage processes that are more suitable for LED lighting applications to reduce the power consumption of the driver ICs and to integrate the functions required for close lighting applications. For example, protection circuits, high-voltage MOSFETs, etc., reduce the number of external components and optimize the cost structure, the goal is to reduce the number of external components from more than sixty to about thirty. In addition, NXP is also planning to transfer the packaging of the LED driver IC to the factory building of the ASEAN countries, and through the huge orders of more than 50 bulb customers, to achieve the price-effective effect.
Different from NXP's active reduction of the price of LED lighting driver ICs, Infineon faced the price reduction of LED lighting driver ICs, and chose to help customers reduce the overall bill of materials (BOM) costs by improving the overall cost performance of LED lighting solutions.
Improve the product of Infineon to highlight the cost-effective advantage
Xie Dongzhe, marketing manager of Infineon, Taiwan, said that the company has been working in the field of lighting for a long time, and has cooperated with many international first-tier manufacturers from straight-tube traditional fluorescent lamps to LED lighting systems for many years, knowing the needs of the lighting industry for the market, and is convinced that the single The cost reduction of components does not meet the needs of customers to reduce product costs for a long time, but instead pursues overall cost-effectiveness to reduce BOM costs. As a result, Infineon is committed to providing customers with overall performance upgrades, better conversion efficiencies, and higher lumen output to drive down overall solution costs.
Xie Dongzhe pointed out that the commercialization of lighting technology will undergo three stages of introduction, mass infiltration and differentiation. Nowadays, the LED industry has gradually entered a large number of adoption periods. Cost and efficiency have become the two major considerations for end-user purchases. Bulbs The high-power professional lighting that meets the LED characteristics is the two major market demand. Compared with the overall lighting market, the stable growth rate of 5-8 is maintained. The LED lighting market growth rate is expected to reach more than two digits.
As the LED lighting market enters a stage of high adoption, Infineon will continue to provide customers with better cost and performance options in LED lighting solutions such as lighting driver ICs, MOSFETs and microcontrollers (MCUs) to reduce BOM costs. Purpose, and performance is competitive in the market. In the face of the next differentiation period, the company will provide platformized power solutions to customers, with cost, performance and functional design flexibility, to help customers face the ever-changing LED lighting applications, card general lighting and benefits Base market.
In addition to the cost-effectiveness of product enhancement, LED driver IC developers are also investing in the development of high-voltage MOSFET products to solve the problem of LED lighting system factory due to the high capacity of high-voltage MOSFETs, resulting in deferred shipments, while winning the favor of important customers.
High-voltage MOS out-of-stock chip makers push for high integration solutions
Wang Yongbin said that in 2013, the LED lighting market will be more vigorously developed. However, due to the serious shortage of high-voltage MOSFETs, the developers of LED lighting systems are caught in the predicament of having many orders but unable to ship, and it is difficult to make a big push in the market.
In order to avoid the market expansion due to insufficient supply of high-voltage MOSFETs, chip manufacturers including NXP, Infineon, STMicroelectronics and Baoer Inte (PI) have introduced LED lighting drivers that integrate high-voltage MOSFETs. IC solutions to ensure that customers LED lighting products are shipped flawless, while taking the opportunity to expand the market in the LED lighting driver IC market. Zhang Weichao pointed out that LED lighting driver ICs that integrate high-voltage MOSFETs must have high-voltage processes. However, due to the high threshold of high-voltage process technology, not all chip vendors have the ability to develop, so it is expected that under this wave of shortages, fear There will be a trend of LED lighting driver IC suppliers' growth and decline.
In order to aggressively insert the high-integration LED driver IC solution market, Wang Yongbin stressed that NXP has introduced the ABCD3 high-voltage process and is expected to start mass production in 2013. This process is not only more suitable for integrating high-voltage MOSFETs, but also reduces leakage current while eliminating LED lighting. Applying unnecessary functions, energy produces a more cost-effective LED driver IC product.
In addition to strengthening the high-pressure process technology, since only a few high-voltage MOSFET manufacturers such as STMicroelectronics, Toshiba and Infineon are available at this stage, NXP has also done a good job to ensure the smooth development of high-integration solutions. Prepare for the preparation of the whole.
Zhang Weichao revealed that NXP expects that the LED lighting market will expand rapidly in the second half of 2012. Therefore, it has already purchased products from high-voltage MOSFETs in advance, and now it can guarantee customers to achieve high-integration LED lighting driver IC solutions within six to eight weeks. In the future, it will be shortened to three to four weeks to pick up the goods. In addition, NXP has plans to invest in high-voltage MOSFET manufacturers to gain a more stable source of supply.
Infineon, which also has advanced power semiconductor process technology, has aggressively launched a highly integrated LED lighting driver IC solution, and has adopted a highly flexible LED lighting driver IC product strategy to meet the product development needs of different customer groups. .
Xie Dongzhe pointed out that the company's high-integration power components have been mass-produced for many years and are used in power products in different fields. For example, in general lighting, Infineon has planned to introduce a new generation of power semiconductor process technology to bring more customers. High cost performance, and simplify the design process, speed up the entry of end products into the market, in response to the diverse needs of lighting products.
However, Xie Dongzhe believes that the demand for high-integration LED lighting driver IC solutions mainly comes from special-purpose and custom-made projects in specific fields, and the LED lighting market is just getting started. The requirements for functions and performance are so varied that it is impossible to use a single high-voltage MOSFET. In the field of lighting applications, LED lighting driver IC solutions that integrate MOSFETs through high-voltage processes must be more flexible to meet the needs of different lighting markets.
In addition to the LED lighting driver IC product line, Infineon has the technical capability to develop high-voltage MOSFETs for the shortage of high-voltage MOSFETs. Xie Dongzhe pointed out that the 2008 financial tsunami made the power supply customers purchase high-voltage MOSFETs in 2009 and set off a shortage of stock shortages. Therefore, in 2012, LED driver ICs have already prepared for high-voltage MOSFETs in stock to avoid repeating the same mistakes, so although the company is currently unable to Due to the emergency order, it ensures long-term supply of high-voltage MOSFETs.
At this stage, Infineon's high-voltage MOSFET product strategy is divided into intellectual property (IP) licensing and supply products. The former allows customers to develop high-voltage MOSFETs using licensed technology, which can be used to produce highly integrated LED lighting driver ICs.
In view of the fact that LED lighting driver ICs account for a significant increase in the cost of light bulbs, semiconductor manufacturers are facing a huge cost test, so reduce the unit price of LED lighting driver ICs through product and technology strategies, while ensuring cost reduction to avoid sacrificing excessive gross margin. For the most urgent task. It is expected that under the price reduction of chip makers, the proportion of LED lighting driver ICs in bulbs will fall. This is estimated by the US Department of Energy (DOE) to estimate the cost structure of A19 bulbs before 2020. . Relatively speaking, the chip makers who can't keep up with the price cuts are afraid to face the shrinking market share, which will affect the power sector of global LED lighting driver IC suppliers.