Catalog
Ⅰ Introduction
ON Semiconductor: In 2021, it will focus on the automotive, industrial and cloud power, and the Internet of Things market
The end of the year and the beginning of the year is often a time for companies to make summaries and outlook, and the semiconductor industry is no exception. Not long ago, ON Semiconductor also made a year-end review of 2020 and revealed to the media what ON Semiconductor plans to do in 2021.
"The year 2020 is a year of surprises for everyone. People around the world are experiencing the worst epidemic in a century. The good news is that the epidemic has eased in some parts of the world. Looking forward to 2021, we hope to get out of the epidemic as soon as possible and have a more favorable business environment." DavidSomo, senior vice president of strategy, marketing and solution engineering at ON Semiconductor, said in his opening remarks at the press conference.
Due to the epidemic, the global economic situation in 2020 is not optimistic. According to Bloomberg data, GDP growth in 2020 is expected to drop from 2.8 percent in 2019 to minus 3.7 percent. China will be the only major economy in the world with positive growth by 2020, while all other economies are expected to suffer single-digit declines.
Fortunately, in the second half of 2020, the global economy began to recover. As indicated by the PMI (Purchasing Managers' Index), manufacturing activity in all major economies resumed growth in the second half of the year, with the only exception being Japan, which also showed a positive trend.
DavidSomo expressed an optimistic outlook for the global economy in 2021. "We expect that the economic outlook for next year will be positive, significantly better than this year, and there is a consensus for overall GDP growth of around 5% in 2021," he said.
He also stressed that, for its part, ON Semiconductor wants to be a reliable supplier of power, analog, sensor and connection solutions, enabling innovation in energy-efficient electronics. It will focus on providing comprehensive solutions to global customers in the automotive, industrial and cloud power markets, as well as the Internet of Things market.
Ⅱ The Layout of the Car Market
In the automotive sector, ON Semiconductor implements a comprehensive sensor product and solution layout, including image sensors, radar, lidar, ultrasonic sensors and other products and solutions. In additon to sensors, R&D resources continue to be invested in silicon and silicon carbide power semiconductors, as well as LED lighting and automotive power management products.
Those investments have also paid off handsomely, accounting for 33% of ON Semiconductor's $5.5 billion in 2019 revenue. DavidSomo pointed out that in the future, ON Semiconductor will continue to develop new products in the automotive market and increase investment in research and development. "On the automotive side, we will push forward research and development around sensors, autonomous driving-related applications, new energy vehicles, and the electrification of vehicles." He revealed.
ON Semiconductor is one of the top 10 semiconductor suppliers in the automotive industry. DavidSomo proudly states, "Since entering the automotive market in 2010, ON Semiconductor has shipped 130 billion chips to automotive customers by 2019. In 2019, there were more than 230 ON Semiconductor devices used in every vehicle produced worldwide."
The company has set the industry standard for automotive image sensors, with more than 120 million of them shipped to Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) applications. Over the past 13 years, more than 400 million ON Semiconductor automotive image sensors have been used in vehicles on the road.
ON Semiconductor has developed a complete portfolio of product solutions and sensor modes to support L4 and L5 autonomous vehicles, including ultrasonic sensor interfaces, image sensors, solid-state LIDAR and millimeter-wave radar technologies.
DavidSomo said that ON Semiconductor's MMW technology, acquired from IBM Research Group in Sea Law (IBM), has been used in communications and fiber optics, and plans to use the technology in the automotive sector. It is currently being tested with customers for prototypes but has not yet been used in commercial automotive production.
In the case of LiDAR, the technology came from the acquisition of sensL to acquire technology on solid-state LiDAR. According to DavidSomo, sensL was originally designed for use in the medical market but is now being developed for use in the automotive market.
"Multiple customers have incorporated our Silicon Photomultiplier (SiPM) and Single-Photon Avalanche Diode (SPAD) technologies into solid-state lidar systems, enabling commercial lidar applications in the automotive industry for L2+ and L3 level autonomous driving safety applications." He went on to point it out.
On the cost side, DavidSomo says that because ON Semiconductor's lidar solution is a solid-state solution, it has been able to bring the cost of lidar down from more than $1,000 for mechanical rotation in the past to the current $500 range for solid-state solutions.
In terms of image sensors, over the years, ON Semiconductor has made three acquisitions, including Aptina, Cypress's image sensor technology and TrueSense, to enrich its image sensor portfolio.
Ⅲ The Layout in the Industrial Field
DavidSomo said that ON Semiconductor offers a wide range of power and automation solutions in the industrial and cloud power markets that support different application scenarios. In terms of power semiconductors, in 2018, ON Semiconductor ranked second behind Infineon with a market share of about 9 percent, according to IHS.
As an example, he pointed out that powering the cloud requires several processes, including generation, power supply and power demand management. "In these processes, we have a complete silicon and silicon carbide technology portfolio that supports power generation, transmission and distribution, as well as power and demand management for data centers and 5G base stations." He points it out.
In terms of energy efficiency improvement, the use of ON Semiconductor's cloud power solution increased energy efficiency by about 0.5%. In a typical VL data center, the savings over the life of the system are estimated at approximately $38 million. The energy efficiency improvement is only 0.5%, which may not sound like much, but when measured at the system-wide level of deployment, the savings over the lifetime of the system are significant.
The development of energy infrastructure is also unstoppable, as a society and the government further promote the development of new energy sources and shift more from coal-fired power generation to renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power.
In order to save energy and reduce emissions, reduce air pollution, from fuel vehicles to new energy vehicles, which has generated the demand for electric vehicle charging pile, and ON Semiconductor silicon and silicon carbide power discrete devices and modules, can support the construction of electric vehicle charging pile.
Similarly, its power technologies, such as solar inverters used in solar panels, enable clean energy generation, and "ON Semiconductor is fortunate to partner with customers in China to develop applications in these areas." DavidSomo said.
Manufacturing is also one of the biggest users of energy. In the United States, our power solutions are used in plant motor drive systems, resulting in savings of more than $350 million per year. If applied globally, the potential savings could reach approximately $5.8 billion per year, resulting in energy efficiency improvements in manufacturing motor drive systems.
Ⅳ The Layout on the Internet of Things
In the Internet of Things (IoT) area, ON Semiconductor has a complete set of key components and modules that enable devices to be connected, intelligent, aware and actuated in their operating environment.
"Of course, we recognize that our semiconductor components are not sufficient to build the end-to-end connected Internet of Things (IoT) systems that our customers need, so we are investing more to accelerate development and provide our customers with a number of development tools to enable faster application development and market deployment." DavidSomo admits.
While ON Semiconductor can provide many of the key building blocks, DavidSomo believes it is important to work with partners in the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem to build IoT solutions for secure end-to-end connectivity.
As shown in the figure below, ON Semiconductor works with a number of technology partners to enhance the performance of IoT devices developed by clients, as well as with infrastructure providers such as cloud service providers to enable edge devices to connect securely and stably to the cloud.
He also revealed that the company is focusing on three vertical areas in the Internet of Things, namely asset tracking and monitoring, connected lighting, and smart homes and building automation.
Ⅴ Conclusion
In conclusion, DavidSomo said that in the process of semiconductor device manufacturing, ON Semiconductor also recognizes the growing need to provide its customers with complete system solutions that add value.
As a result, ON Semiconductor offers modular products for power components and built-in controls, as well as reference design kits to speed up customer product development. ON Semiconductor also provides software and design tools to help customers complete designs faster and get their equipment to market faster.
He also stressed that ON Semiconductor will focus on research and development, and is committed to developing innovative products and solutions including power, simulation, sensors and connectivity solutions.
"Through both endogenous growth and exogenous acquistions, we are further enhancing our capabilities to support the applications our customers are developing, while also building our professional application capabilities to help them develop products better and faster to market."