Spending on RF power semiconductors for the wireless
infrastructure market has experienced significant growth in 2011.
Other markets are seeing some moderation in growth as the
global economic picture and political factors come into play. Also, gallium
nitride (GaN) is continuing its march to capture share.
GaN has the promise of increased market share in 2012
and is forecast to be a significant force by 2017,” said
Lance Wilson, research director, mobile networks, ABI Research.
It bridges the gap between two older technologies,
exhibiting the high-frequency performance of gallium arsenide combined with the
power-handling capabilities of Silicon LDMOS. It is now a mainstream technology
that has achieved measurable market share and in the future will capture a
significant part of the market.
The vertical market showing the strongest uptick in the
RF power semiconductor adoption business, outside of wireless infrastructure,
is commercial avionics and air traffic control, which Wilson describes as now
being a significant market.”
While the producers of these chips’ devices are located
in the major industrialized countries, this sub-segment market is now so global
that end equipment buyers can be from anywhere.
ABI Research’s new study examines RF power semiconductor
devices that have power outputs of greater than four watts and operate at
frequencies of up to 3.8 GHz, which represent the bulk of applications in use
today.
By Telecomlead.com Team
editor@telecomlead.com
