Magnetics Business & Technology - Spring 2018 - 22

INDUSTRY NEWS
Half a Billion Smartphones and Other Devices with
Wireless Power Technology Shipped in 2017, IHS
Markit Says
Led by mobile phones, small appliances and wearables, the wireless
charging market grew 40 percent year over year

tively low, as the availability of wireless charging technology in
flagship smartphones by Samsung and Apple just started in 2017,"
said Victoria Fodale, senior analyst, IHS Markit. "In the
past, the presence of several competing wireless charging standards was a barrier to adoption. By early 2017, Qi had
displaced the competing standards. We expect even more smartphone makers will adopt Qi technology this year."
The IHS Markit Wireless Power Market Tracker provides a full
view of all the various applications in the market in a single
database, including consumer, medical, industrial, automotive
and public deployments. Dedicated market research and
interviews with more than 50 companies within the industry help
shape detailed market forecasts by application, while an indepth
consumer survey provides insights from end users from a different
region each quarter.

Infineon Technologies and SAIC Motor Establish Power Module Joint Venture SIAPM in China to Power
the Largest Market for Electric Vehicles in the World
Led by mobile phones, small appliances and wearables, shipments of consumer electronics devices enabled with wireless
charging rose 40 percent in 2017, compared to the previous year.
In all, nearly 500 million devices with wireless charging
shipped last year, according to IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO), a
world leader in critical information, analytics and solutions.
Mobile phones were primarily responsible for the strong growth in
wireless power technology in 2017, after Samsung set a
precedent with its flagship Galaxy S8 smartphone in April 2017.
Apple followed in November 2017, adding the technology to
its new iPhone devices, including the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus.
Electric toothbrushes will continue to boost the small appliances
category, helping the segment grow to more than 100
million units by 2026. Wireless charging is most efficient for electric toothbrushes, because the toothbrush is always in the
stand and no energy is lost during the charge.
The Apple Watch, which has featured a proprietary, low frequency
charging solution since its launch in 2015, led wireless
charging in the wearable devices category in 2017. Smart watch
devices launched by smartphone manufacturers are
expected to continue to drive growth in the wearable segment,
which is expected to exceed 90 million units shipped in 2022.
Awareness grows around the world, but usage is still relatively low
According to the latest Wireless Power Market Tracker from IHS
Markit, consumer awareness of wireless charging technology
exceeded 80 percent in all regions. Awareness is expected to increase in 2018, thanks to Apple's support of the technology.
However, the number of respondents reporting they had actually
used wireless charging technology was still relatively low,
averaging only 29 percent across all regions in 2017.
"It's not all that surprising that wireless charging use is still rela-

Magnetics Business & Technology * Spring 2018

SAIC Motor Corporation Limited and Infineon Technologies AG
has announced the establishment of a joint venture to manufacture power modules for the dynamically developing electric vehicle
market in China. SAIC Motor holds a stake of 51 percent of the JV
and Infineon 49 percent, respectively. The partners have received
all approvals by public authorities. The JV is named SIAPM (SAIC
Infineon Automotive Power Modules (Shanghai) Co, Ltd.). The JV
is headquartered in Shanghai; its new manufacturing facility resides in Infineon's site expansion in Wuxi. Volume production is
scheduled to start in the second half of 2018.
"Infineon has established itself as a leader in all major markets
for electric vehicles by providing cutting-edge semiconductor solutions. This includes the buoyant Chinese market which has become the largest and fastest growing market for hybrid and full
electric vehicles in the world. SAIC Motor is the largest OEM in
China and thus an outstanding partner to further strengthen and
expand our position. Joining forces allows us to significantly expand our manufacturing capacities in order to satisfy the ever
growing demand. Together we plan to generate even more business with products tailored to the needs of the Chinese electric
vehicle industry," said Jochen Hanebeck, member of the Management Board of Infineon responsible for operations, at the Grand
Opening in Wuxi. "Our joint venture will make us faster to serve
the electric vehicle customers in China."
"We welcome the close collaboration with Infineon, who has acquired a strong reputation in automotive power modules. This perfectly combines with our broad and in-depth system-level expertise in electric vehicles. Electric vehicles offer high convenience
and unmatched driving experience for the customer while helping
to save our planet. We are happy to jointly leverage our knowhow with Infineon in the newly established joint venture," said Mr.
Zhixin Chen, SAIC Group President.
The joint venture SIAPM offers power solutions for electric vehicles in China, the world's largest and fastest growing market for
electro-mobility. It aims to supply to all customers producing in

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