May 5, 2015: Infineon Technologies AG has announced that it has purchased all outstanding shares of LS Power Semitech Co., Ltd., a company established in 2009 as a joint-venture of Infineon and LS Industrial Systems in Korea. The strategic acquisition increases Infineon’s global footprint in the growing market segment of Intelligent Power Modules (IPM) which enable higher energy efficiency in consumer appliances such as refrigerators, freezers, washing machines, dryers, and air conditioners.
“Power electronics is a cornerstone of our commitment to address the global challenge of energy efficiency,” said Dr. Helmut Gassel, Division President Industrial Power Control. “Functional integration is one of the key trends in this industry – with our increased engagement in IPMs we will participate in a fast growing and highly attractive market. Companies we supply in these markets are positive about our strategic approach to move from product thinking towards system understanding.”
Growth in the IPM product segment is a result of the worldwide trend for greater energy efficiency in consumer appliances as well as light industrial drive applications. Depending on the application, variable speed motors using IPMs consume only approximately half of the energy than simple on/off motors. In appliances such as refrigerators, the efficiency gained by using one or more variable speed motors allows reduction in the amount of insulation required for the enclosure, which improves design flexibility while reducing material costs.
IPM products combine power semiconductors (IGBTs in this case) and integrated circuit (IC) components in high reliability and compact single package devices. Researchers at IHS Technology estimate that the world market for IPM products will grow at a compound annual rate approaching 10 percent from 2013 to 2018, with the consumer segment expected to grow at a 15.5 percent compound rate in that period. Major home appliances are expected to be the growth driver in this segment throughout the next years.
In the US, the trend towards higher energy efficiency has been fuelled by new US Department of Energy standards aimed at reducing the energy consumption of refrigerators and freezers by at least 10 percent. In Korea, leading manufacturers have started to exclusively make goods with variable speed electric motors controlled by IPMs. The majority of these products are being exported to the global market. Energy efficiency in Europe is propelled by the EU regulation which demands an energy label for home appliances in all member states.
Following the acquisition of International Rectifier, which offers a highly complementary portfolio of IPMs, the acquisition of the outstanding shares in LS Power Semitech represents a strategic move to provide customers worldwide with optimised and unique system offerings.
Founded in 2009, LS Power Semitech is a Korea-based supplier of IPMs with Infineon originally holding a 46 percent share of the joint venture with LS Industrial Systems. Infineon previously increased its ownership to 66 percent in June 2014. With its headquarters and development activities based in Seoul and its manufacturing site located at Cheonan, Korea, LS Power Semitech is well positioned to serve the large domestic Korean, Chinese and global consumer white goods markets, serving all major brands in home appliances.
