1.4 Billion Digital Power Converters Projected By Darnell Group
The portion of the power supply market that will employ some form of digital loop control is expected to grow at an average annual rate of about 45% for at least the next five years, according to recent analysis by Darnell Group. Digital power growth will be almost five times faster than the overall market. By 2013, the digital power converter market is projected to exceed 1.4 billion units.
"To put the market in perspective, the worldwide total available ac-dc power supply and dc-dc converter unit market is set to grow at an average rate of only about 10% between 2008 and 2013," stated Linnea Brush, Senior Analyst with Darnell. "This includes external and embedded ac-dc power supplies, along with isolated and non-isolated dc-dc converters. A market of 1.4 billion units is still less than half the total available market, so digital control will continue to grow rapidly over the next five years, and beyond."
"This year, Darnell is hosting the fifth-annual Digital Power Forum. These growth trends indicate that even when we get to the tenth-annual event, there will still be emerging opportunities, significant growth and shifting market dynamics," Brush concluded.
The continued rapid growth in the use of various digital power technologies is the key factor driving the success of Darnell’s Digital Power Forum (DPF ‘08). DPF ‘08 is being held in San Francisco in September, 2008, and has always drawn an international audience that represents the breadth and influence digital power management and control has in the power supply industry. This extends not only to the applications and products, but geographically, as well. This year‘s DPF is no different, with a number of European companies presenting important findings related to power conversion, mission critical facilities and advanced components. Cambridge Semiconductor, Eltek/Valere, Ericsson Power Modules, Infineon Technologies, Powervation, ST Microelectronics, and TranSiC will offer perspectives on energy efficiency, reliability, configurability, and new materials such as silicon carbide.
DPF ‘08 includes a dedicated track of papers focused on digital energy management and power management in enterprise-critical installations such as data centers and telecommunications installations, and related digital equipment. Two extended sessions related to system-level implementation of digital power management are being organized in cooperation with the PMBus™ Organization. The third parallel track of papers will cover various aspects of Advanced Components including advanced semiconductor devices, and thermal management. DPF ‘08 will be held at the Hyatt Regency, San Francisco Airport on September 15 – 17.
DPF ‘08 is organized by Darnell Group and PowerPulse.Net. Electronic Design and Power Electronics Technology are the official media sponsors for DPF ‘08. This focused three-day international conference will serve an audience of decision makers who are interested in learning about and contributing to the latest practical advancements and anticipated future developments related to digital power management in electronic systems and the use of digital control techniques in power converters.
Reflecting this broader scope and mainstream interest in digital power technologies, DPF ‘08 has an expanded Advisory Committee including representatives from Analog Devices, Coldwatt, Embedded Microprocessor Benchmarking Consortium, Emerson Network Power, Energy Star, Ericsson Power Modules, Fairchild Semiconductor, IBM, Infineon Technologies, Intel, International Rectifier, Lineage Power, Maxim, Microchip, National Semiconductor, NXP, Power-One, Primarion, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments, and Zilker Labs. The U.S. EPA ENERGY STAR Labeled Products program, Institute for Data Center Professionals and the Critical Facilities Roundtable are supporting sponsors for DPF ‘08.
