AI, automotive, and robotics drive GaN market boom

Gallium nitride (GaN) has emerged as a major growth engine in the power electronics market. With superior material properties, GaN offers unique advantages in high-frequency, high-efficiency, and compact power applications, driving multiple industry segments into a new wave of technological transformation.

According to TrendForce, the GaN power device market is projected to grow from USD 390 million in 2024 to USD 3.51 billion by 2030, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 44%.

GaN technology first gained traction in fast chargers for consumer electronics, where its high efficiency and power density enabled significantly smaller and more portable chargers. Today, GaN applications are rapidly expanding into high-end industrial and automotive sectors that demand higher reliability and performance.

Key emerging applications include AI data center, humanoid robot, onboard charger (OBC) for vehicles, and photovoltaic microinverter.

NVIDIA is actively promoting the transition to 800V high-voltage DC (HVDC) infrastructure in data centers to support IT racks with power loads exceeding 1MW by 2027. This move injects new momentum into the GaN industry, as GaN’s high-frequency and high-efficiency characteristics are well-suited to meet the stringent demands of AI hardware for high power density, thermal optimization, and energy efficiency. Several GaN vendors have already announced partnerships with NVIDIA.

Meanwhile, humanoid robots have gradually been brought to commercial application rather than just a trial product at research lab. Their joints require precise, responsive, and compact motor control systems — a challenge GaN is poised to solve. Multiple manufacturers have launched GaN-based joint motor drive reference designs for humanoid robots, aiming to enable compact and efficient motion control systems.

In the automotive sector, GaN is becoming an ideal option alongside silicon (Si) and silicon carbide (SiC). Vehicle OBC has trended toward lighter and smaller designs, and GaN-based bidirectional systems (BDS) can significantly improve their power density and performance. Although challenges remain in traction inverter applications, GaN’s advantages — including high efficiency, compactness, and lightweight — show strong potential to enhance EV performance and range, drawing increasing attention from automakers.

Looking ahead, as GaN technology matures and large-scale production advances, wafer sizes are expected to shift toward 8-inch and 12-inch formats, further lowering manufacturing costs. This will make GaN more competitive in cost-sensitive markets and bring its pricing closer to that of silicon devices, accelerating its penetration across a broad range of downstream applications.

Overall, the power GaN market has advanced beyond the initial technology validation and early adoption phases and is now entering a golden period of growth driven by cost-effectiveness and multi-sector adoption. In the coming years, we can expect to witness large-scale deployment of GaN technology in data centers, electric vehicles, robotics, renewable energy, and other key sectors.

Source: TrendForce, Taiwan.