Semiconductor technology is currently the main body of evolution of automotive intelligence, and it is also the core key to promoting electrification forward. So it's interesting to track market and technology changes around the world, and to observe the dynamics of major cars and new entrants.
At present, from the perspective of European revenue and business development, it is worth focusing on Infineon, NXP and ST, and I would like to do some sorting out the performance and business development priorities in the past 2021.
Figure 1: Global automotive semiconductor companies currently being tracked
The main reason for tracking is based on the revenue of the automotive semiconductor market in 2020 and the existing business, but to explain, sensors, MCUs and power semiconductors are not all automotive semiconductors.
Figure 2.Automotive semiconductor market and business segmentation in 2020
Part 1
What happens to Infineon in 2021
●Infineon
Infineon's overall revenue for 2021 was EUR 11 billion, an increase of 29%, operating margin increased from 13.7% to 18.7% (a new high after 2008), and revenue from the automotive business was EUR 4.8 billion, an increase of 37.5%. About half of the automotive products are power semiconductors, mainly discrete components, IGBTs and MOSFETs; MCUs account for about 25%, sensors account for about 18%, and storage accounts for about 7%.
Figure 3: Infineon's automotive business
In terms of power electronics, Infineon is the world's largest supplier of automotive IGBTs (market share of more than 50%), BYD is also an Infineon customer, if you consider the wafer cutting and repackaging situation, Infineon has a market share of more than 60% in the Chinese market.
In siC, Infineon's business is just getting started, with customers xiaopeng, hyundai, Japanese and American. The SiC market size is forecast to be $1 billion in 2025, and the market share may reach 30%.
In terms of investment, Infineon's main investment focuses on third-generation power semiconductors, and will invest more than 2 billion euros to expand the production capacity of SiC and GaN semiconductors, starting construction in June 2022. Infineon will build a third plant at its Kulim plant in Malaysia, with a new fab to be completed in the summer of 2024 and the first fabs rolling off the production line in the second half of 2024.
Note: This piece seems to be somewhat optimistic about market share.
Figure 4: The situation of Infineon's automotive power semiconductors
Infineon's top ten customers in the automotive sector are: Bosch, Continental Motor, Hitachi, Denso, Aptiv, Keihin, Valeo, Mando, HELLA, BYD. From the current point of view, Infineon's MCU (TC3x) in the power and chassis field accounts for a larger proportion of advantages, mainly relying on the binding of the first few major customers.
Figure 5.Product matrix of Infineon MCUs
Part 2
NXP和ST
●NXP
In 2021, NXP's overall revenue was $11.1 billion, an increase of 29.1% year-on-year, and the automotive business revenue reached $5.5 billion, an increase of 44.7% year-on-year.
With a focus on MCUs and perception, NXP began to seek innovation in the process, introducing TSMC's 16nm FinFET process (previously the most advanced was the 28nm FD-SOI process). The first to use the 16-nanometer process were the S32G2 and S32R294. The S32R294 is a chip for 4D millimeter-wave radar, followed by the S32R45, which introduces the ARM Cortex-A53 core and the Cortex-M7 core. The specific research will be carried out, and there will be time to do a special topic in depth.
Figure 6. NXP's 2021 business composition
●ST
St.'s revenue for 2021 was $12.76 billion (up 24.9 percent) and its operating margin grew from 14 percent to 19 percent. ST's automotive business accounts for 34% of total revenue, and the top ten customers are Apple, Bosch, Continental, HP, Huawei, Mobileye, Nintendo, Samsung, Seagate, and Tesla.
Figure 7. ST's business composition
From the perspective of the automotive business, ST is the exclusive supplier (foundry model) of Tesla SiC MOSFET, and the new part mainly includes The SiC MOSFET Hyundai Motor and the establishment of a strategic alliance with Renault to supply advanced power semiconductor chips. From the current point of view, ST has a market share of more than 60% in the in-vehicle SiC MOSFET market.
Figure 8. The SiC business is at the heart of ST's current automotive business
Summary: As more and more semiconductor companies cut into the automotive business, especially many new forces are willing to increase non-security attributes and playful functions, in fact, automotive semiconductor manufacturers have a much better development opportunity than before, especially the expansion of traditional automotive semiconductor companies The main focus of the direction - power semiconductors and perception.