[Autohome?Industry]?After acquiring Cypress, Infineon’s share of the global automotive semiconductor market increased to 13.4%, making it the world’s largest automotive semiconductor supplier. . On the other hand, in July this year, Cao Yanfei joined Infineon as senior vice president of Infineon Technologies Greater China and head of the Automotive Electronics Division. Incorporating new elements and taking on the new leadership, Infineon is setting sail again with a new look. On September 17, at the Infineon Automotive Electronics Developer Conference media communication meeting, a number of media, including Autohome, had in-depth exchanges with Cao Yanfei in an attempt to unveil a new blueprint for the "New Infineon". Cao Yanfei said that the merger of Infineon and Cypress is pursuing the synergy of "1+1>2". In the era of new energy and intelligent network connection, the new Infineon will always focus on three cores Viewpoint: Zero emissions will definitely be achieved, the driver becomes a passenger, and the car remains the same car.
◆?1+1>2: Cao Yanfei and “New Infineon” On April 16, 2020, Infineon announced the completion of the acquisition of Cypress Semiconductor Company of the United States. As a result, Infineon will not only rank among the top eight global semiconductor manufacturers, but also become the world's largest automotive semiconductor supplier. In 2019, the automotive semiconductor market size was approximately US$37.2 billion (approximately RMB 251.4 billion). According to the market share in 2019, Infineon's market share was 11.2% and Cypress's market share was 2.2%. After completing the acquisition, the new Infineon's market share increased to 13.4%, surpassing NXP and becoming the first in the field of automotive semiconductors. Cao Yanfei has a very impressive resume. Cao Yanfei graduated from Hunan University with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and a master's degree in power electronics from Hunan University, as well as an executive MBA degree from the European Institute of Management and Technology. Cao Yanfei has 15 years of rich experience in the automotive field. Before joining Infineon, Cao Yanfei served as General Manager of the Asia Pacific Region of Continental's New Energy Technology Division. Before arriving in mainland China, Cao Yanfei had worked for Bosch for nine years, holding various engineering management positions and being promoted to technical director. There seems to be a certain degree of tacit understanding between Cao Yanfei and Infineon. After the acquisition of Cypress, Infineon's new blueprint in the automotive field requires someone like Cao Yanfei who has rich experience in the fields of new energy and intelligent networking at the helm. who. Cao Yanfei also has strong expectations. In addition to its advantages in company size, market share, and industry visibility, Cao Yanfei also said that Infineon has been listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability Global Index for 10 consecutive times, becoming one of the most sustainable companies in the world. "I think Infineon is a company that sees the long term, truly understands strategy, has a vision, and is able to implement it." The acquisition of Cypress also reflects the full complementarity and future development tension of both parties. First, the microcontroller family products complement each other to further improve the field of body electronics applications; second, in the fields of infotainment, instrumentation and human-computer interaction (touch), Cypress provides a rich product portfolio including wireless interconnection Third, Cypress is the world’s second largest supplier of automotive-grade storage semiconductors, with a market share of 13.2%. Through leading storage semiconductor technology, both parties can jointly provide more advanced solutions for high-growth application areas such as ADAS/AD and instrumentation/infotainment systems. Infineon and Cypress are undergoing an orderly integration. Cao Yanfei said that both companies are leaders in the automotive semiconductor industry, and the reason why they can come together is because the strategic directions of the two companies coincide. "Cypress complements Infineon's product lines very well, which strengthens each other." Faced with the huge growth space in the future automotive semiconductor market, Infineon has been prepared for a long time. Powertrain electrification presents significant growth opportunities, with the average semiconductor content of internal combustion engine vehicles (ICE) increasing by 23.4% since 2015. Cao Yanfei believes that although the overall growth of automobiles has slowed down or even declined, driven by technology and the trend of the "new four modernizations", the semiconductor content in cars has continued to increase. So, what is the outlook for the new Infineon? Cao Yanfei said: "We still firmly believe in Infineon's three concepts for cars. All strategic directions revolve around three core perspectives: zero emissions will inevitably be achieved, the driver will become a passenger, and the car will remain the same car." Zero emissions are inevitable It will be realized: automobile electrification is unstoppable. In this process, the semiconductor content in the car will continue to increase; multiple types of new energy vehicles will coexist.
Drivers turn into passengers: L2 has become standard equipment for many car manufacturers, and the main challenges from L2+ to L3 are the increasing complexity of regulations and in-vehicle systems; the reliability of semiconductor devices is crucial to autonomous driving systems. The car is still the same car: User demand for comfort and luxury will further promote innovation and development in traditional market segments: Comfort configurations move from high-end to mid-range models, which will drive the growth of the body and infotainment market segments; Lighting has become a key element of OEM brand recognition and design uniqueness.
◆? Seize the development opportunities of new energy vehicles. The "New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan (2021-2035)" (Draft for Comments) proposes that by 2025, the proportion of new energy vehicles in new car sales will reach Around 25%. Wang Binggang, leader of the expert group for the National New Energy Vehicle Innovation Project, revealed that the 2.0 version of the "Energy Saving and New Energy Vehicle Technology Roadmap" also mentioned that EVs (pure electric vehicles) and PHEVs (plug-in hybrid vehicles) should account for 10% of the total. 15%-25% of sales. my country's overall policy of supporting the development of new energy vehicles will not change, and the general trend of electrification in the "new four modernizations" of automobiles is also irreversible. Of course, as electrification deepens, the content of semiconductors in automobiles, especially the content of power semiconductors, is bound to continue to increase. Relevant data also shows that the overall semiconductor content of 48V/micro-hybrid vehicles in 2019 is worth up to US$531 (approximately RMB 3,595); the overall semiconductor content of hybrid/plug-in hybrid vehicles is worth up to US$785 (approximately RMB 5,314). Yuan); the overall semiconductor content of a pure electric vehicle is worth up to US$775 (approximately RMB 5,246). "We must have corresponding products to match the product and technology requirements in the electrification process." Cao Yanfei pointed out that Infineon is the largest automotive power semiconductor manufacturer, especially in the field of new energy vehicles. Infineon has corresponding products in IGBT or silicon carbide, which will be put on the market one after another in the future and used in different scenarios. Cao Yanfei pointed out that Infineon power semiconductors cover key application areas of new energy vehicles, as well as silicon-based and silicon carbide-based technologies. Infineon has 25 years of development experience in the field of silicon carbide technology, and has related products in mass production for application fields such as main inverters and vehicle chargers. "Infineon's silicon carbide technology is applied to the main inverter. Under an 800-volt system, the cruising range can be increased by more than 7%." Looking at the specific supporting situation, the world's best-selling BEVs and PHEVs in 2019 Among them, 15 models use Infineon's power devices in their electric powertrain systems; from 2020 to 2021, 35 new BEV and PHEV models using Infineon products will begin mass production.
◆? Strive for intelligent connectivity? Lay out autonomous driving. In the "three modernizations" of automobiles, the importance of intelligence and connectivity goes without saying. According to the latest report from Global?and?Markets, it is expected that by 2025, the automotive V2X (vehicle?to?everything, i.e., the exchange of information between vehicles and the outside world) market size will reach US$10.55 billion (approximately RMB 71.4 billion). "We believe that intelligent networking brings both opportunities and challenges." Cao Yanfei pointed out that from an opportunity perspective, Infineon will definitely benefit from this incremental market based on its rich product lines and solutions. Infineon's current and future product portfolio can be quickly provided to customers. The challenge lies in body interconnection, functional safety and information security. Cao Yanfei believes that cars are no longer a closed system, but can be interconnected with everything, and the resulting safety issues will suddenly appear. "Of course, in addition to leading wireless connectivity solutions for cars, Infineon can also provide customers with reliable and safe technical solutions for application." Autonomous driving is one of the hottest topics at the moment. We still look at the future prospects of autonomous driving from the perspective of the incremental market. In the next five years or even longer, as the degree of autonomous driving increases, more sensors will be required. As the level of autonomous driving increases, the semiconductor content and BoM cost in the car are increasing significantly, and the market potential is huge.
"Infineon has very comprehensive and powerful device and solution support for L0-L5 autonomous vehicles at different levels in terms of perception, interpretation, decision-making, and execution, including sensors, processors, and vehicle control MCU chips and terminals. Reliable actuators and actuator drives, etc.,” Cao Yanfei said. It is worth mentioning that as the degree of autonomous driving becomes higher, radar and camera sensing modules will also increase, thus promoting the continued growth of semiconductor content. Cao Yanfei said that Infineon is the largest automotive 77GHz radar chip supplier, and two-thirds of the 77GHz radar chips on the market come from Infineon. For camera sensing modules, Infineon is the preferred supplier for many tier?1 and tier?2 customers, providing them with sensors and memory used in cameras. The automobile industry is undergoing changes unseen in a century. As Cao Yanfei said, in the past ten years, automobiles have developed by leaps and bounds in both quantity and quality. Cars have also evolved from closed, mechanical, and electromechanical systems in the early days to becoming electrified, intelligent, and connected. In the development trend of three modernizations, we believe that "New Infineon" is fully prepared and just waiting for the wind to come. (Text/Autohome? Li Zhengguang)