Although China's power semiconductor devices started late, the market size is growing rapidly. According to data from Zhongyan Puhua Industrial Research Institute, it has grown from 190.5 billion yuan in 2015 to 229.7 billion yuan in 2017, with an average annual compound growth rate of 8.53%, making it one of the world's largest power semiconductor markets. The reason that drives the rapid development of power semiconductors is their wide application in mobile communications, consumer electronics, new energy transportation, rail transportation, industrial control and other fields, and it plays a huge role in realizing the efficient generation, transmission, conversion, storage and control of electric energy. It is the key to achieving energy conservation, emission reduction and green manufacturing.
MOSFET is currently one of the most commonly used power semiconductor devices. Before 2003, it did not “belong” to China and had to be completely imported from abroad. Such a "blank" market gives Luo Yi (Chairman of Xi'an Semipower Electronic Technology Co., Ltd.) room to play. He told reporters from Xi'an Entrepreneurship Network (XianDream.com) about his entrepreneurial experience and Semipower's participation in the localization of semiconductor power devices. The whole process.
As one of the giants in the semiconductor industry, Samsung's goal is to be a "big supermarket" in the semiconductor industry, which means that for any electronic product, all components are produced by Samsung. But this dream was shattered by the 1998 Asian financial crisis. Due to corporate financial constraints, Samsung was forced to sell off many high-quality assets, and Samsung's power device department was one of them. At that time, Samsung’s power device department had multiple wafer production lines and packaging plants, a global sales system, and was developing products around the world. American companies such as Motorola and Fairchild pose strategic threats. At that time, Samsung was short of funds. In order to obtain enough cash to save itself, Samsung sold its semiconductor power device division to Fairchild of the United States at a very low price.
After 2000, South Korea's economy gradually recovered, and Samsung hoped to make a comeback in the power device sector. Mr. An, the vice president of R&D and Mr. Min, the general manager of the R&D department of Fairchild (Korea), saw this opportunity and led nearly a hundred outstanding engineers at the technical expert level to leave Fairchild and establish SEMIWELL Company, which is manufactured at Mitsui Factory in Japan. Power devices and power ICs. Unfortunately, the company was on the verge of bankruptcy within two years due to poor management, and excellent technical personnel also left the company. D&I company is a complete technical team composed of more than a dozen power device technical experts who left SEMIWELL. However, due to lack of funds and difficulty in finding suitable wafer foundries, D&I companies are also struggling.
It was not until Mr. Yuan Xuanxi, who was the legal representative of Samsung Greater China at the time, that he found Luo Yi, the former general manager of Samsung's China region who had immigrated and was preparing to study for a degree in Canada. After some lobbying, Luo Yi gave up the "Maple Leaf Card" and sold He sold his house in Canada and returned to China to start a business. He hired all the technical personnel of the D&I team and started the process of localization of power devices by using the newly built wafer factory of Huayue Microelectronics. "Actually, the main reason is because this was a blank market in China at the time, and no mass-produced products had yet appeared." Luo Yi said.
As the first company to introduce international-level MOSFET technology to China, Semipower began to cooperate with the D&I technical team in 2003 to independently develop commercial MOSFET devices that are part of China's independent technology. Since then, Chinese MOSFET products have flourished.
In terms of technology, Semipower's independently developed SAMWIN power device products have achieved a multi-series, multi-platform, multi-variety, and multi-specification product structure. The D series 200V-1000V planar MOSFET is suitable for low-power power supplies such as chargers and LED power supplies. The K series 500V-900V deep junction MOSFETs are suitable for PC power supplies, solar inverter power supplies, car charging pile modules and other fields, the S series 30V-200V split gate MOSFETs are mainly used for motor control and battery management systems, and the F series IGBT will be used in the electronic control system of new energy vehicles in the near future. Excellent quality and high reliability have made Semipower's power device products the preferred supplier for many mobile terminals, IT equipment and industrial equipment brands, such as Huawei, OPPO, Xiaomi, HP, Emerson, etc. At present, Semipower is increasing its research and development efforts in power device processes, cooperating extensively with internationally renowned manufacturers, striving to increase product R&D varieties, further improve product quality, and strive to become one of the world's first-class semiconductor power device companies in the near future. ranks.
In terms of service, Luo Yi said that truly good power devices are products customized for customers, designed and innovated according to their system requirements. This requires us to increase product development efforts while understanding customer needs. Although in doing so We need to spend more manpower and financial resources, but only in this way can we provide customers with the most cost-effective products and realize Design Win on the design side of high-quality customers. Only such products can have vitality in the market.
Due to the EU's environmental requirements, there are strict detection and index controls on various metals and chemical elements of semiconductor devices. All devices are required to be lead-free, halogen-free, and meet ROHS standards and other environmental requirements. Therefore, in terms of monitoring product environmental standards, Semipower has a dedicated instrument that measures various trace elements to detect whether products comply with EU environmental standards. "Although we can require upstream manufacturers to conduct strict testing, to ensure nothing goes wrong, we will still conduct real-time monitoring to prevent any fish from slipping through the net," Luo Yi said.
With the steady expansion of downstream products of power devices, the domestic power semiconductor industry will usher in a golden development period, especially in the field of new energy vehicles. Taking IGBT as an example, Yole data points out that the application proportion of IGBT in the field of automotive electronics was 24% in 2014, and this proportion is expected to increase to 46% in 2020, with electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles being the largest source of increase.
According to the "Notice on the Development Plan for National Strategic Emerging Industries during the 13th Five-Year Plan" issued by the State Council in 2015: By 2020, new energy vehicles will achieve production and sales of more than 2 million units that year, and cumulative sales will exceed 5 million units. Therefore, new energy vehicles are what Luo Yi is looking forward to. Semipower is actively stepping up its deployment in this field and has already reached preliminary cooperation intentions with a number of car companies.
To this end, Luo Yi will establish two new research centers in Xi'an, one is a new power supply R&D center and the other is a new energy vehicle R&D center. "Our concept of serving new energy vehicles is to open up all key nodes of new energy vehicles, work with car manufacturers to overcome technical difficulties, and give new energy vehicles a Chinese core," Luo Yi said.
From the establishment of Xi'an Semipower to the present, Semipower has been developing steadily and steadily with its excellent quality and excellent service. In more than ten years, it has only experienced financial losses in 2008. The reason is that many low-priced and inferior products suddenly appeared on the market that year. similar products. Out of his firm belief in quality and service, Luo Yi did not follow the trend and cut prices. “We must adhere to high standards of product quality and win the respect of customers with quality and cost-effectiveness. We must believe in Chinese brands. Made in China must require high-quality power. Devices. "From 2009 to 2017, Semipower achieved both sales and sales profits. Semipower's sales revenue in 2018 is expected to have double-digit growth compared with 2017.
During the development process of Semipower, Xigao Investment has made two rounds of investment in it. The first round was direct investment by Xigao Investment, and the Shaanxi Provincial Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund was introduced for investment. A new round of financing is also being negotiated and is expected to be announced by the end of the year.
