Healthy growth seen for power management ICs

SAN FRANCISCO—Revenue from power management ICs is expected to grow to $12.1 billion in 2014 from $7.4 billion in 2009, according to a new report by market research firm Gartner Inc.

Non-isolated DC-DC converters, which are used as point-of-load supplies in computers and communications switching stations, will show the fastest revenue growth, while high-current linear regulators, increasingly displaced by switch-mode devices, will show the slowest growth, according to the report's projections.

Revenue from the DC-DC converters, used as high-current point-of-load supplies on circuit cards in servers and communications switching stations, will grow to nearly $2 billion in 2014 from $868 million in 2009, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.1 percent, according to the report, produced by analyst Steve Ohr. High-current linear regulators, used with heat sinks inside consumer appliances will have a CAGR of 5.6 percent over the forecast period, according to the report.

Revenue from voltage regulators is expected to have a CAGR of 10.3 percent from 2009 to 2014, according to the report.