Samsung Electro-Mechanics will target the automotive power inductor market in full-scale by beginning mass production of power inductors, an essential core component of electric and autonomous vehicles.
Power inductors are core electronic components applied to power circuits to convert electricity (power) from batteries into power required by semiconductors and supply stable current.
A car requires more than 100 power inductors, more than twice as many as a smartphone. The number of power inductor installations is expected to more than double by 2030 as the usage area expands to electric vehicles and autonomous driving.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics announced on July 16 that it is mass producing power inductors for electric vehicle cameras with autonomous driving systems. The power inductor provides stable power to semiconductors that process autonomous driving information by preventing sudden current changes. This is the first time Samsung Electro-Mechanics is mass-producing automotive power inductors.
The performance of a power inductor is generally determined by the raw materials, magnetic substances (objects with magnetic properties) and the number of coils (copper wires) that can be wound inside.
Thus, this means that to increase the performance of the power inductor, it is necessary to improve the properties of the magnetic substances and wind more coils in the limited space.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics has developed two types of 2016 size (2.0 mm long and 1.6 mm wide) power inductors with capacities of 1.0 uH (microhenry) and 2.2 uH, respectively.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics’ power inductors are thin film products where thin coils are formed on the package substrates, which has the advantage of higher productivity and miniaturization than the wire wound type where the coils are wound on magnetic substances.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics independently developed magnetic substances with excellent properties and low losses based on the materials technology accumulated through MLCC, and applied the photo-resist technology (a method of engraving circuits using light) used in semiconductor package substrates to precisely form coils with minute spacing.
In addition, this product also meets AEC-Q200, an automotive electronic component reliability test standard that requires a high level of reliability, allowing it to be used in other applications such as ADAS and in-vehicle and infotainment.
The power inductor market is expected to grow steadily centered on high-performance products owing to increasing demands arising from the high-performance and multi-functionalization of electronic devices and the expansion of the automotive industry such as autonomous driving and electric vehicles.
The power inductor market size is expected to reach approximately USD 3.65 billion by 2028, at a CAGR of approximately 9%. In particular, power inductors that can withstand high currents are required as the amount of current used continues to increase as the number of semiconductors installed inside vehicles increases and their performance improves due to the sophistication of automotive functions. The market for automotive power inductors is expected to show high growth at a CAGR of about 12%.
Chang Duckhyun, CEO of Samsung Electro-Mechanics said, “Power inductors are expected to experience high growth as the market for autonomous driving and electric vehicles expands,” and added that, “Samsung Electro-Mechanics plans to develop power inductors into the ‘second MLCC’ based on our differentiated technology through the convergence of materials and package substrate technologies.”
In December last year, Samsung Electro-Mechanics carried out an organizational change to elevate the “Electronic Component Team”, in charge of power inductors, to the “Electronic Component Business Team” and is expanding its business in earnest.
