Under the tide of lack of core in the car, the domestic chip force of the Star semi-guide vehicle specification IGBT module continues to increase

Per reporter: Zhu Chengxiang Per reporter Per editor: Zhang Haini

Image source: Visual China

Under the tide of "lack of core" in automobiles in 2021, a number of domestic manufacturers have gradually grown up, and Star Semiconductor (603290, SH) is one of them.

On the evening of April 8, Star Semiconductor disclosed its 2021 annual report. In 2021, the company achieved revenue of 1.707 billion yuan, an increase of 77.22% year-on-year; net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was 398 million yuan, an increase of 120.49% year-on-year.

In addition, the progress of the Star Semi-guide Vehicle Standard IGBT is also worthy of attention. Previously, Kang Kai of the Sanssouci Research Institute once told the "Daily Economic News" reporter: "Star Semi-Guide is still focusing on low-end A00-class cars, and it is up to the technology to continue to break through." ”

According to the annual report, in 2021, the vehicle-grade IGBT modules produced by Star Semiconductor for the main motor controller will continue to be released, with a total of more than 600,000 new energy vehicles, of which more than 150,000 are equipped with A-class and above models. In contrast, the automotive-grade IGBT modules produced by Star Semiconductor in 2020 are equipped with a total of more than 200,000 new energy vehicles.

Vehicle grade IGBT volume

As a new type of power semiconductor device, IGBT is internationally recognized as the most representative product of the third revolution in power electronics technology, and is also the core component in the field of industrial control and automation, which acts like the human heart. IGBT can adjust the voltage, current, frequency, phase, etc. in the circuit according to the signal instructions in the device to achieve the purpose of precise regulation. Therefore, IGBT is known as the "CPU" in the power electronics industry.

Compared with fuel vehicles, the demand for new energy vehicle regulation circuits is higher. According to the latest report of Omdia (formerly IHS), star semiconductor 2020 global market share of IGBT module ranks 6th in the world and 1st among Chinese enterprises.

At present, the global IGBT leader is Infineon, which launched NPT, IGBT4 and IGBT7 after 1997, 2010 and 2020 respectively. Star Semi-Guide launched the NPT type in 2011, the fourth generation of IGBT products of benchmarking Infineon in 2015, and the seventh generation of IGBT products of benchmarking Infineon in 2021.

In terms of time, the Star Semiconducting NPT is more than 10 years behind Infineon; the IGBT4 is 5 years behind Infineon; and the IGBT7 is only 1 year behind Infineon.

Source: Screenshot of Capital Securities Research Report

In 2015, Star Semiconductor successfully developed the FS-Trench type IGBT chip, which has the same performance as Infineon's mainstream fourth-generation chip, and achieved mass production at the end of 2016. In 2021, Star Semiconductor's new generation of vehicle-grade 650V/750V/1200V IGBT chips based on the seventh-generation micro-trench Trench Field Stop technology has been successfully developed and is expected to start batch supply in 2022.

So, how are domestic counterparts performing? Capital Securities said that The Acer Micro 1200V M3i, which benchmarks Infineon's fourth-generation chip, was launched in 2017; the IGBT 4.0 launched by BYD Semiconductor in 2018 is still a fine planar grid design, and the IGBT 6.0 with a high-density trench grid design was launched in 2021.

Benefit from the new energy vehicle fever

In terms of research and development capabilities, Star Semiconductor said that talent is an important factor in the semiconductor industry and a prerequisite for power semiconductor companies to survive and seek development. The founder of the company is a semiconductor industry technical expert, with rich knowledge, technical reserves and industry experience; the company has a number of first-class R & D level of technical personnel at home and abroad, many people have the experience of undertaking R & D work in internationally renowned power semiconductor companies; the company's core technical team is stable, most people have more than ten years of work experience in the company.

According to his resume, Shen Hua, chairman and general manager of Star Semiconductor, received his Ph.D. in materials science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1995, and was a senior R&D engineer in Siemens' semiconductor division (the predecessor of Infineon, who became Infineon in 1999) from July 1995 to July 1999, and a senior project manager at XILINX from August 1999 to February 2006.

Infineon is the leader in power semiconductors, and XILINX is the international FPGA leader. It can be seen that Shen Hua has long worked in internationally renowned semiconductor companies.

According to the annual report, the company's research and development expenses in 2021 were 110 million yuan, an increase of 42.95% over the same period of the previous year, accounting for 6.46% of the operating income. Star Semiconductor said that the company will continue to increase the research and development of a new generation of IGBT chips, fast recovery diode chips and other chips, and overcome a new batch of key technologies. At the same time, it focuses on key industries such as new energy vehicles, new energy power generation, energy storage, and frequency conversion white goods to launch products with strong international competitiveness.

In 2021, new energy vehicles and photovoltaics are the two hot industries. These two major industries are inseparable from power semiconductors. Benefiting from the development of industries such as new energy vehicles, the demand for IGBT has also increased rapidly. Jibang Consulting predicts that from 2018 to 2025, the compound annual growth rate of China's IGBT will reach 19.96%, and by 2025, the size of China's IGBT market will reach 52.2 billion yuan, with a compound growth rate of 19.11%, which is one of the fastest growing semiconductor power devices in the market segment.

It is worth noting that Star Semiconductor also prompted the risk that the new energy vehicle market, as an emerging market, may have the risk of greater market fluctuations. Star Semiconductor said that the company has invested a lot of research and development funds in this field, and will continue to increase investment in this field in the future, including the investment projects of the raised funds. Although the company's sales of new energy vehicle modules continue to maintain rapid growth, in the future, if the industrial policy changes, automotive supply chain device support, related facilities construction and promotion speed and customer recognition and other factors, resulting in large fluctuations in the demand for new energy vehicle markets, will adversely affect the company's profitability.

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