RF GaN Market Pushing $0.75 billion
Defence applications to maintain upwards trajectory for GaN, says Strategy Analytics report
Strategy Analytics Strategic Component Applications (SCA) group report 'RF GaN Market Update: 2016 - 2021' estimates that revenue for RF GaN devices will grow at a CAAGR (compound annual average growth rate) of 14.1 percent to reach $733.0 million in 2021.
Fast growth in defence applications, particularly radar, communications and EW, will offset an expected flattening of the wireless infrastructure segment to keep the overall market growth for GaN on an upwards trajectory.
"LTE base station deployments in China have been the obvious growth driver for RF GaN revenue these past three years", commented Eric Higham, service director, Advanced Semiconductor Applications (ASA) service. "As this activity winds down, infrastructure will remain a large and important segment, but the industry will need to position to take advantage of other applications and emerging 5G opportunities for growth."
Key questions that the RF GaN device supply base needs to understand include: How will the GaN equipment/supplier landscape change over time? What product platforms will be important? What are the technology/product differentiators? Where is the next big commercial application for RF GaN?
"While the GaN supply chain looks for guidance on these future commercial opportunities, fast growth in defence applications will keep the overall market growth for GaN on an upwards trajectory," noted Asif Anwar, director of the Advanced defence Systems (ADS) service.
"The question is can companies focused exclusively on domestic defence sectors take advantage of this growing global demand? These companies will need to understand how to better compete against commercial manufacturers as well explore strategic options including partnerships or secondary manufacturing options."
