- Navitas and Halo created this JV in 2021, to develop application-specific silicon controllers
- The addressable market potential for this additional silicon controller capability is estimated at over $1B/year by 2026
An industry leader in gallium nitride (GaN) power integrated circuits, Navitas Semiconductor recently announced an agreement to acquire the remaining minority interest in its silicon control IC joint venture (JV) from Halo Microelectronics for a purchase price of $20 million in Navitas stock. The transaction is expected to close in February. The addressable market potential for this additional silicon controller capability is approximated at over $1B per year by 2026.
It is noteworthy that Navitas and Halo created a JV in 2021, to develop application-specific silicon controllers that are optimized to work in combination with Navitas GaN ICs to improve efficiency and density.
The company mentioned that the first family of products have been developed and released to production which addresses AC-DC power supply applications for mobile, consumer, home appliance and auxiliary power supplies in enterprise, renewables, EV and other related markets. “The silicon controller and GaN ICs combine either as a ‘chip-set’ or are co-packaged, to target 20 W to 500 W applications and have already been adopted by dozens of customers set to introduce their next-generation products later this year,” claimed the official release.
Navitas CEO and co-founder Gene Sheridan said on the occasion: “This is another strategic acquisition for Navitas as we integrate critical silicon controller capabilities with our leading-edge GaN and SiC technologies. Silicon controllers are needed in all power systems and largely define the architecture of those systems. By combining silicon controllers with GaN and SiC, Navitas is uniquely positioned to influence customer architecture decisions to maximize the system benefits and Navitas’ value when using GaN or SiC in next-generation power electronics.”
2012-born Halo Microelectronics develops analog and power management integrated circuits enabling energy-efficient smart systems.
2014-born Navitas Semiconductor is a leading next-gen power-semiconductor company. GaNFast power ICs integrate GaN power and drive, with control, sensing, and protection to enable faster charging, higher power density, and greater energy savings. Navitas claims to be the world’s first semiconductor company to be ‘CarbonNeutral’-certified.
