Strong growth momentum in power transistors carried into the first quarter this year with worldwide sales rising nearly 10% compared to the same three-month period in 2018, the report from IC Insights reads.
But, the rate of increase is expected to slow substantially in the second half of 2019 with shortages of parts ending in most market categories.
Power transistor sales are forecast to grow 5% in 2019 to reach a new record-high $17.1bn before dropping 2% in 2020 to $16.8bn, according to IC Insights.
In the past two years, power transistor revenues have been driven higher by a combination of strong unit shipments and increases in prices that resulted from shortages of devices and not enough manufacturing capacity to keep up with demand.
Power transistor shipments grew 8% in 2018 to a record-high 62.8bn devices after rising 9% in 2017, says IC Insights’ report, which is forecasting a 6% increase in unit volume this year to 66.7bn worldwide. Average selling prices for power transistors increased nearly 6% in 2018 with delivery lead times for some widely used parts—such as power MOSFETs—exceeding 40 weeks in the second half of last year compared to eight weeks in normal market conditions.