Yole：挑戰矽元件市場 GaN元件CAGR達80%

法國市場研究公司Yole Developpement預測，2007年氮化鎵(GaN)射頻元件市場規模達到1,700萬美元，其中研發佔65%，國防和衛星應用佔17%，3G基地台以及LTE/WiMAX應用部屬分別佔16%和2%。
隨著GaN在LTE/WiMAX市場的強勁滲透，Yole預測GaN RF電晶體市場規模在2010年可望成長至1億美元左右；這也意味著80%的平均年成長率，及2008年可達到大約3,000萬美元的市場規模。

Yole估計，2012年GaN市場中R&D的比重將跌落至6%，國防和衛星應用、3G基地台以及LTE/WiMAX部屬的比重分別為27%、31%和29%，廣播市場則佔4%，但Yole並未預測2012年GaN的市場規模將會如何。

Yole公司負責化合物半導體的專案經理Philippe Roussel在一次聲明中表示：「據估計，2008年功率放大器市場規模大約為9億美元，而這些GaN元件正逐步挑戰著主宰該產業地位的矽元件。」

回顧2005年可見，基於矽的LDMOS元件佔據了2GHz以及較高頻率範圍高功率射頻放大器應用市場的90%；其餘的市場則由GaAs pHEMT技術佔有。

軍事應用是首先採用能隙(bandgap)元件的應用，特別是採用由美國DARPA以及DoD贊助開發的SiC(碳化矽)MESFET元件。

在2006年，Eudyna Devices公司宣佈與日本電信(Nippon Telegraph)以及Telephone公司在東京首次測試性部署了採用GaN HEMT的3G網路。由Cree RFMD和Nitronex公司提供的商業化產品隨後也跟進，瞄準3G和WiMAX基地台以及一般應用。與此同時，未來幾年也將可望實現第一款用於太空應用的產品。

以下為英文原文：

Yole forecasts 80 percent CAGR for GaN devices

Peter Clarke
EE Times Europe
(06/13/2008 12:51)

LONDON — The market for gallium nitride (GaN) radio frequency devices was $17 million in 2007, according to Yole Developpement. The market was split 65 percent in R&D, 17 percent defense and satellite, 16 percent 3G basestations and 2 percent deployed in LTE/WiMax applications.
With strong penetration of GaN into LTE/WiMax Yole is forecasting the market for GaN RF transistor could increase to about $100 million in 2010. This would imply 80 percent average annual growth and a market of about $30 million in 2008.

Yole predicted that in 2012 the GaN market will show that the R&D proportion will have fallen to 6 percent, defense and satellite 27%, 3G basestations 31 percent, LTE and WiMax 29 percent. The broadcast market would be 4 percent. Yole did not say how large the market would be in 2012.

"These GaN devices are now challenging the dominant position of silicon in an industrial playground in which a power amplifier market size of about $900 million is forecasted for 2008," said Philippe Roussel, project manager for compound semiconductors at Yole, in a statement.

Up to 2005, silicon LDMOS covered about 90 percent of the high power RF amplification applications in the 2-GHz and higher frequency range; the remaining market share was addressed by GaAs pHEMT technology.

Military applications were the first to use wide bandgap devices, especially with the silicon-carbide MESFET being developed through DARPA- and DoD-funded programs in the United States.

In 2006, Eudyna Devices Inc. (Yokohama, Japan) announced with Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. that a first 3G network using GaN HEMT had been deployed in Tokyo for test purposes. Commercial offerings from Cree RFMD and Nitronex followed, targeting both 3G and WiMax basestations and general purpose applications. In parallel, the first products for space applications are expected to be implemented in the next few years.