Recently, MOSFET manufacturer Excelliance MOS said at the media meeting that the 8-inch wafer supply is tight, driving the MOSFET to rise in price. It is expected that the MOSFET shortage will continue until the first half of next year.

In fact, MOSFETs have been in short supply since last year, mainly due to the continued growth of new applications, coupled with insufficient supply of silicon wafers, making MOSFET supply directly affected. The market expects that the 8-inch silicon wafer shortage will continue until 2020, so the supply of MOSFET will not be solved in a short time.

According to MOSFET industry insiders, the shortage is mainly due to the growing demand for downstream new applications in the past few years, mainly including consumer products such as smart homes and smart speakers. In addition, the rapid development of electric vehicles and the promotion of autonomous vehicles, Internet of Things, cloud center, etc., make the balance of supply and demand of MOSFETs fluctuate significantly in the past few years. Although the production capacity of mainland China may start to supply in the near future, the industry believes that the downstream demand is growing continuously, the market supply and demand are difficult to balance in a short period of time.

With the development of electric vehicles, the overall MOSFET market demand exceeds global production capacity. For example, the power components used in general automobiles are 21%, and the usage rate in electric vehicles is increased to 55%. The main reason is the electronic management of electric vehicles, and the cars on the market have begun to import electronic interfaces. The cost of using MOSFETs in cars has increased from $338 to $704, which shows a significant increase in demand for power components. From the perspective of the global market, automotive electronics is the largest application market for power semiconductors.