According to the latest report of market research agency TrendForce, the market conditions in the first half of 2022 are chaotic, and the demand for different functional chips is different. The overall demand for power management chips (PMIC) is still relatively good under the development of global electronic devices and power systems. However, due to the diverse functions It is widely used in consumer electronics, communications, computing, industrial control, automobiles and other fields. In the second half of the year, the supply and demand situation gradually differentiated. ) and other strong demand.

The agency said that the specifications and types of power management chips are various, including Linear Regulator, Switch Regulator, Multi Channel PMIC, etc., and even batteries according to usage scenarios. Products such as Battery Charging & Management, Voltage References, and USB Power Delivery ICs all fall into this category.

In the field of consumer electronics, it is true that in the first half of 2022, the demand for linear regulators and switching regulators with relatively simple functions and structures in the panel, home appliances, and consumer notebook markets will decrease, and it is estimated that orders will even be revised down by 15-30%. However, the multi-channel power management chip with a slightly longer delivery time will also experience price competition pressure in the second half of the year when the OEM and ODM control inventory for less than 2 months.

As for the industrial control and automotive markets, it has always been a battleground for military strategists. The power management chips have higher requirements for voltage accuracy, temperature control, and reliability. With the trend toward Industry 5.0 and automotive electrification, product pricing in the second half of the year will continue. Strong, but this field is mostly dominated by IDM manufacturers such as Texas Instruments (TI), Infineon (Infineon), Analog Devices (ADI), STMicroelectronics (ST), and ON Semiconductor (Onsemi), which have been deeply involved in the market for decades. Dominant, the proportion of small and medium-sized Fabless operators is relatively low.

Observing the current delivery status, from the perspective of IDM manufacturers with a market share of more than 61% of power management chips, due to the complete product portfolio, stable quality and not easy to be replaced, coupled with strong demand for production capacity, the current delivery time for new orders is still long. The average lead time for switching regulators is 36 to 46 weeks, and the lead time for multi-channel power management chips is 40 to 50 weeks. However, some of the existing orders with an original delivery time of more than 52 weeks can be shipped 4 to 16 weeks earlier. In addition, from the perspective of small and medium-sized Fabless manufacturers, because it is difficult to compare with IDM manufacturers in terms of product specifications and application areas, the delivery time is usually no more than 28 weeks.

The agency pointed out that in the past more than a year of major shortages, Fabless and IDM manufacturers shared the dividends of shortages and price increases. However, under the trend of moderate expansion of wafer production capacity and gradual normalization of delivery time, the supply and demand were originally tight. Dealers, agents, and small and medium-sized fabless companies with price increases of 20-40% naturally have pressure to revise their prices due to the rapid accumulation of inventory. Therefore, in various application fields in the second half of 2022, qualified suppliers The Preferred Vendor List (AVL) will still maintain stable supply and demand, but non-preferred (Non-Preferred), single product types, and limited application areas may need to reduce prices and maintain volume to sell inventory, but In general, among all chip products, the demand for power management chips is still relatively stable in the second half of the year.