GaAs foundry Win Semiconductors expects sales of power amplifiers (PA) for 5G handsets to climb to 30-40% of its total PA revenues in 2021, with shipments for Wi-Fi 6E applications also to rise significantly in the year, according to company president Kyle Chen.
Chen told investors in a virtual conference that Win Semi has developed sub-6GHz PA process technology well ahead of its peers, and its 5G handset PA shipments doubled to 20% in 2020 as a portion of its total PA revenues despite impacts of the pandemic and US-China trade tensions, with sales likely to double again in 2021 thanks to mounting penetration for 5G smartphones.
Chen continued PA shipments for Wi-Fi 6E applications are expected to ramp up notably in the second half of 2021, with the area size of PAs for the segment to double from those for Wi-Fi 5 applications.
3D sensing components and LiDAR applications would be another growth engine this year, thanks to increasing adoption of its VCSEL chips for light sources, Chen said.
Chen noted that his company is also bullish on the growth of its GaN-on-SiC wafers for 5G base stations, with shipments having grown by over 50% on year for two consecutive years.
He said Win Semi registered over 20% on-year increases in shipments of GaAs, GaN, and other III-V semiconductors for mobile devices, 5G infrastructure and optical components in 2020.
The company expects to expand its revenues to another record high in 2021 from NT$25.55 billion in 2020 on higher 5G handset penetration and continued deployments of 5G base stations worldwide, according to Chen.
