Under the tide of “core shortage” of automobiles in 2021, a number of domestic manufacturers have gradually grown up, and Starpower Semiconductor Ltd(603290) ( Starpower Semiconductor Ltd(603290) , SH) is one of them.
On April 8, Starpower Semiconductor Ltd(603290) disclosed the annual report of 2021. In 2021, the company achieved a revenue of 1.707 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 77.22%; The net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was 398 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 120.49%.
In addition, the progress of Starpower Semiconductor Ltd(603290) vehicle regulation level IGBT also deserves attention. Previously, Kang Kai of worry free tree research institute once told the reporter of daily economic news that ” Starpower Semiconductor Ltd(603290) is still focusing on low-end A00 cars, and it is waiting to see whether the technology can continue to break through.”
According to the annual report, in 2021 Starpower Semiconductor Ltd(603290) produced the vehicle specification level IGBT module applied to the main motor controller, with a total supporting capacity of more than Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Co.Ltd(600000) new energy vehicles, including more than 150000 class A and above models. In contrast, Starpower Semiconductor Ltd(603290) 2020 will produce automobile grade IGBT modules supporting more than 200000 new energy vehicles.
Volume of vehicle gauge level IGBT
As a new type of power semiconductor device, IGBT is internationally recognized as the most representative product of the third revolution of power electronic technology. It is also the core component in the field of industrial control and automation. Its function is similar to the heart of human beings. IGBT can adjust the voltage, current, frequency and phase in the circuit according to the signal command in the device, so as to achieve the purpose of accurate regulation. Therefore, IGBT is called “CPU” in power electronics industry.
Compared with fuel vehicles, the demand for regulating circuits of new energy vehicles is higher. Starpower Semiconductor Ltd(603290) is the leader of IGBT in China. According to the latest report of omdia (former IHS), the global market share of Starpower Semiconductor Ltd(603290) 2020 IGBT module ranks sixth in the world and first among Chinese enterprises.
At present, Infineon is the global leader of IGBT, which launched NPT, igbt4 and igbt7 after 1997, 2010 and 2020 respectively Starpower Semiconductor Ltd(603290) launched NPT type in 2011; Launch the fourth generation IGBT products of benchmarking Infineon in 2015; In 2021, the benchmark Infineon’s seventh generation IGBT products were launched.
In terms of time point, Starpower Semiconductor Ltd(603290) npt model lags behind Infineon for more than 10 years; Igbt4 lags behind Infineon for 5 years; Igbt7 is only one year behind InfineonP align = “center” source: screenshot of Capital Securities Research Report
In 2015, Starpower Semiconductor Ltd(603290) successfully developed FS trench IGBT chip, which has the same performance as Infineon mainstream fourth generation chip, and achieved mass production by the end of 2016. In 2021, Starpower Semiconductor Ltd(603290) based on the seventh generation micro trench field stop technology, the new generation of 650V / 750V / 1200V IGBT chip of vehicle specification level was successfully developed, and it is expected to start mass supply in 2022.
So, how are the Chinese counterparts doing? According to capital securities, Macmic Science & Technology Co.Ltd(688711) macro micro 1200V m3i benchmarking Infineon’s fourth generation chip was launched in 2017 Byd Company Limited(002594) semiconductor launched IGBT 4.0 in 2018, which is still a fine planar gate design, and launched IGBT 6.0 with high-density grooved gate design in 2021.
Benefit from the popularity of new energy vehicles
In terms of R & D capability, Starpower Semiconductor Ltd(603290) said that talents are an important factor in the semiconductor industry and a prerequisite for the survival and development of power semiconductor enterprises. The founder of the company is a technical expert in the semiconductor industry, with rich knowledge, technical reserves and industry experience; The company has a number of technicians with first-class R & D level at home and abroad, and many of them have the experience of undertaking R & D work in international famous power semiconductor companies; The company’s core technical team is stable, and most people have more than ten years of working experience in the company.
According to the resume, Shen Hua, the Starpower Semiconductor Ltd(603290) chairman and general manager, received a doctorate in materials science from Massachusetts Institute of technology in 1995. From July 1995 to July 1999, he served as the senior R & D Engineer of Siemens semiconductor Department (the predecessor of Infineon and became Infineon in 1999), and from August 1999 to February 2006, he served as the senior project manager of Xilinx (Xilinx).
Infineon is the leader of power semiconductor, and Xilinx (Xilinx) is the leader of international FPGA. It can be seen that Shen Hua has been working in internationally renowned semiconductor companies for a long time.
According to the annual report, the company’s R & D expenses in 2021 were 110 million yuan, an increase of 42.95% over the same period last year, accounting for 6.46% of its operating revenue Starpower Semiconductor Ltd(603290) said that the company will continue to strengthen the research and development of new generation IGBT chips, fast recovery diode chips and other chips to overcome a new batch of key technologies. At the same time, we will launch products with strong international competitiveness for key industries such as new energy vehicles, new energy power generation, energy storage and frequency conversion white appliances.
In 2021, new energy vehicles and photovoltaic are two hot industries. These two industries are inseparable from power semiconductors. Benefiting from the development of new energy vehicles and other industries, the demand for IGBT has also increased rapidly. Jibang consulting predicts that the compound annual growth rate of China’s IGBT will reach 19.96% from 2018 to 2025, and the scale of China’s IGBT market will reach 52.2 billion yuan by 2025, with a compound growth rate of 19.11%. It is one of the fastest growing semiconductor power devices in the segment market.
It is worth noting that Starpower Semiconductor Ltd(603290) also suggests that the new energy vehicle market, as an emerging market, may have the risk of large market fluctuations Starpower Semiconductor Ltd(603290) 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 fund-raising investment projects. Although the sales volume of the company’s new energy vehicle modules continues to maintain a rapid growth, in the future, if the changes in industrial policies, the supporting devices of the automobile supply chain, the construction and promotion speed of relevant facilities, customer recognition and other factors affect, resulting in large fluctuations in the market demand of new energy vehicles, which will have an adverse impact on the company’s profitability.
