Optokobler og solid state relæer på usikker grund
Markedet for optokoblere og solid state relæer voksede i 2013 med 8 procent, men den fremtidige udvikling er uklar, fremhæver IHS i en ny analyse (in english).
It has not been an easy road for manufacturers of optocouplers and solid state relays in recent years. Following large disruptions to their supply chain and customer manufacturing plans following the earthquake in Japan and flooding in Thailand; the outlook for optocoupler and solid state relay manufacturers has been improving.With industrial markets picking up around the globe as the macroeconomic climate improves, revenues and shipments have been steadily increasing from mid-2012. New emerging markets have also been increasing in size which has helped the optocoupler and solid state relay market revenues grow by 8% from $1.23 billion in 2012 to $1.33 billion in 2013, according to the latest figures from IHS.
Some of this growth was due to some manufacturers picking up lost business after the natural disasters but there are encouraging signs for the optocoupler suppliers. The hybrid and electric vehicle is buoyant with unit production growth of hybrid and electric vehicles increasing by 7% from 2012 to 2013 increasing by 18% in 2014. The total number of isolation components per vehicle is set to remain fairly stable, and with price erosion relatively low in this sector; IHS forecasts optocoupler and solid state relay growth between 2013 and 2019 at a CAGR of 12%.
The automotive market on makes up a relatively small portion, less than 10%, of the total optical isolation market. The industrial market is the largest end sector for the optocoupler and photo relay market. IHS forecasts solid growth from $0.80 billion in 2014 to $1.01 billion in 2019.
The low end phototransistor market is one area of the market where the outlook does not look as favourable. Lower cost Asian suppliers are dominating this market driving prices down by up to 30% a year. A number of Japanese and Western suppliers have struggled to compete in this market. With unit shipments growth not exceeding the decline in price erosion this market is set to decline with a CAGR of -0.4% from 2013 to 2019.
There is another long term factor that is disrupting the optocoupler and solid state relay market growth. That is the impact of non-optical isolators produced by companies such as Analog Devices Inc., Texas Instruments and Silicon Laboratories. Other manufacturers have released products or hold patents in this area and could introduce further products into this space in coming years. These products typically compete with high performance optocouplers from companies like Avago, Toshiba and Renesas.
It is an attractive market with IHS forecasting growth from $112 million in 2013 to $272 million in 2019, a CAGR of over 15% per year. They are having increased success in new emerging high growth markets such as smart meters, solar inverters and hybrid and electric vehicles.
A number of leading optocoupler manufacturers have released new products, with high speeds, ability to handle higher currents and increased reliability to match the performance of some non-optical isolator parts. It is also worth noting that the majority of the high performance optocoupler business is in traditional large industrial markets. The market penetration of new non-optical isolators in traditional industrial optocoupler markets has been low and in the short term is expected to remain low.
This should mean that the overall optocoupler market can maintain growth of 3-4% over the next 5 years. Optical isolation suppliers with a portfolio more focussed on high performance products might be able to maintain annual growth of 5-6%. However if non-optical isolation suppliers are able to increase their penetration into motor drives and other factory automation equipment, the optical isolation suppliers might see their growth slip to low single figures.
