KOREA: Inductor manufacturers are highly competitive, but scarce

The size of the global inductor market was $1.7 billion in 2006 (data from the Paumanok Group). The global production output of inductors and bead/bead array (BA) reached 60 billion in 2006, and is expected to reach 70 billion in 2007. There are no signs of market slowdown in the inductor market, as show in Figure 1.



Recently inductor manufacturers have improved the performance and value addition of their products by using diverse materials such as ferrites, ceramics and barristers, depending on the characteristics of electronic products, applications, or voltages. As requirements for miniaturization, EMI, and temperatures have increased in the parts industry, the development of advanced manufacturing processes and R&D for inductors have continued in order to meet these requirements.

CHIP DEMAND HIGHER THAN COIL

In Korea, the demand for chip inductors with low voltages appropriate for small-sized digital devices, such as mobile mobile phones, is increasing more than coil inductors. Coil inductors are used for the power supply part of electronic products or electric home appliances with a high voltage.



¡°We are focusing on the market of chip inductors appropriate for electronic products with low voltages of less than 1A. They are for diverse applications such as A/Vs, displays, and PCs,¡± said Byung-soo Jin, head of the Production Technology R&D Center at Ceratech Co. Ltd (www.ceratech.co.kr).



¡°Inductors with dimensions of 0.6mm ¡Á 0.3mm are also in demand due to miniaturization requirements of mobile devices. These miniature inductors will further decrease to 0.4mm ¡Á 0.2mm in size in the near future. We are already preparing the next-generation manufacturing process technologies that can decrease device sizes and increase frequency. Ceratech will start manufacturing these inductors depending on market circumstances.¡±



BIG IN VALUE ADDITION

Korea has only about 10 inductor manufacturers. However, these few local manufacturers play ¡°big¡± in value addition and technology development. At Ceratech, for example, the R&D personnel accounts for about 15 percent of all employees. The company supplies highly miniaturized inductor product families featuring width of 40¦Ìm and thickness of 40¦Ìm-60¦Ìm.



Ceratech¡¯s EMI ESD filter (chip L-barrister) features ESD protection (under the IEC6100-4-2 standard) and enables the elimination of EMI noises. It is mainly used for LCD display lines. Meanwhile, its LC filter is a chip where an inductor is combined with a condenser. This product separates or removes noises that occur in diverse electronic devices. However, the prices of these products are 10 to 20 times more expensive than regular commercial inductors.



According to Jin, ¡°The competitiveness of Ceratech is based on the fact that it handles ferrites, ceramics, and barristers. Ceratech has the know-how to reliably process parts materials with totally different properties and implement combinations of inductor features.¡±



Although the company¡¯s development focus is on advanced chip inductors, commercial chip inductors still make up a huge chunk of Ceratech¡¯s market, accounting for 50 to 55 percent of the gross sales. On the other hand, inductor product families where composite features are implemented account for 20 to 25 percent of its gross sales, but this is gradually increasing.



¡°Ceratech is focusing on breaking into a niche markets such as LED lighting, and has the flexibility of coping with the demands of device manufacturers and market changes,¡± said Joon-hyung Park, assistant general manager, Marketing Team, Ceratech. ¡°Among all our product offerings, the chip inductor market will grow the fastest. While the price of a coil inductor has decreased by 7 percent this year, the price of a chip conductor has decreased by almost 50 percent ¨C a significant factor that will boost chip inductor sales.¡±

Click here for Illustrations:

Figure 1, Figure 2