Intelligent power module (IntelligentPowerModule, IPM) is a hybrid integrated circuit, which is the abbreviation of IGBT intelligent power module. It takes IGBT as the basic power switching device, and connects multiple chips of driving, protection and control circuits through welding wire (or copper tape), sealing them into the same module to form a relatively independent unit with partial or complete functions.The internal structure of IPM module is largely the same, which is a set of power converter, driving and protection circuits in a single unit. When used, only need to provide switching control signals and drive power for each bridge arm, greatly facilitating the application of the module and the design of the system, and make the reliability greatly improved, especially suitable for sinusoidal output variable voltage variable frequency (VVVF) type inverter.

Compared with discrete solutions, Intelligent Power Modules (IPMs) have unparalleled advantages in reducing board space, improving system reliability, simplifying design and accelerating time-to-market. According to the report "2019-2024 Intelligent Power Module (IPM) Industry Market Depth Research and Investment Prospect Prediction Analysis Report" published by Xinxin Industry Research Center, the domestic domestic Intelligent Power Module (IPM) market continued to grow at a high rate in 2018, with the average market growth increasing by 37.8% compared with that of 2017, and the business revenue of some manufacturers increasing by more than 50%. Domestic high-quality and highly reliable IPMs have been dominated by Japanese, German, and U.S. vendors, with foreign brands accounting for as much as 86% of the domestic market. Nowadays, China is becoming the largest market for semiconductor product applications, and the localized substitution of semiconductor products is booming, and domestic semiconductor manufacturers are accumulating strength and gradually making progress in the high-end application market.In 2018, the market growth rate of domestic manufacturers was higher than the average market growth rate, and the process of domestic substitution was accelerated significantly, and the shipment volume of domestic IPMs was 9.4 million pieces in 2018, and the domestic enterprises currently engaged in the IPM Module enterprises include Zhejiang Jiaxing Star Semiconductor, Changzhou Jiangsu Hongmicro Technology Company Limited, Shenzhen BYD Microelectronics, Nanjing Yinmao Microelectronics, Hangzhou Silan Microelectronics and so on.

IPM can be widely used in different fields such as industrial, automotive, and consumer. According to the report "2019-2024 Intelligent Power Module (IPM) Industry Market Depth Research and Investment Prospect Forecast Analysis Report", domestic IPM is currently concentrated in the consumer field, and the automotive and industrial fields are still in the stage of development.In 2018, the highest proportion of IPM downstream fields was in the consumer field, with a market share of 92.4%. Overall, the development of domestic IPM is concentrated in the white goods "air, ice and washing" market, and the penetration rate of the industrial and automotive fields is relatively low.

Industrial IPM is mainly used in industrial compressors, pumps, variable frequency drives, power tools and so on. It is expected that the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of such market in the next three years is 5.1%, growing fast, which is mainly attributed to the rising labor costs leading to the increasingly strong demand for automation, and various energy regulations and testing standards such as ErP, IEC, GB3, etc., the increasingly stringent requirements for energy efficiency. Currently, IPMs are mainly used in high-power air conditioners, industrial inverters, industrial pumps and industrial fans, etc. It is estimated that the market volume of IPMs in the industrial sector has reached 290-320 million units.

Industrial IPM is mainly used in industrial compressors, pumps, variable frequency drives, and power tools. It is expected that the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of such market in the next three years is 5.1%, growing faster, which is mainly attributed to the rising labor costs leading to the increasingly strong demand for automation, and various energy regulations and testing standards such as ErP, IEC, GB3, etc., the increasingly stringent requirements for energy efficiency.Currently, IPMs are mainly used in high-power air conditioners, industrial inverters, industrial pumps and industrial fans, etc. It is estimated that the market volume of IPMs in the industrial sector has reached 290-320 million units.

With the introduction of new fuel economy standards and increasingly stringent environmental regulations, electric vehicles (EV)/hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) ushered in the rapid development of automotive functional electronic trend is increasing, automotive electronics market in the next three years the CAGR is expected to reach 19%, with huge growth potential. In the automotive field, IPM is mainly used in standard products such as electric water pumps, electric fuel pumps, electric fuel pumps and electric cooling fans, as well as sensorless drive solutions that integrate gate drivers, microcontrollers (MCUs), power silicon and peripheral components.An automobile IPM usage can be up to 4-5 units, and with China's automobile sales of 22 million units in 2018, it is estimated that the market capacity for IPMs in the domestic automotive sector will reach 0.8-1.1 billion units.

In the consumer IPM segment, it includes IPMs for consumer applications below 400 W and IPMs for consumer applications from 400 W to 4 KW. IPMs for consumer applications below I400 W have become quite popular in white goods such as air conditioners, washing machines, refrigerators, fan motors, dryers, dishwashers, and other applications due to the advantages of their small sizes, high efficiency, and high reliability.For applications with higher power levels, where EMI performance and thermal performance are extremely critical, while needing to take into account a high degree of integration, this segment of IPMs is mainly used in the field of high-power household appliances.According to the China Household Electric Appliances Association data in 2018, China's white goods "air, ice and washing" three annual production and sales volume has exceeded 350 million units, of which the demand for modules more than 180 million. Domestic white goods module market will reach tens of billions of dollars, but the current domestic self-sufficiency rate of less than 10%, more than 90% rely on foreign imports.

Tomson Jie researchers believe that the current market IPM (intelligent power module) products are basically imported, expensive, resulting in high market prices, users are difficult to accept.In recent years to China's self-developed IPM power intelligent module has basically matured, but because the overall function is photolithography on the same chip, resulting in the number of photolithographic layers of up to 17 layers, the number of nano nodes rising straight up, technical difficulties, the number of photolithographic layers (number of nano nodes) and the cost of an exponential increase in the cost of manufacturing cost is expensive, for some of the low-end products, the cost-effective there is no place to live. Domestic IPM high-end applications there is still a long way to go, it is expected that in 2023 the domestic IPM market demand will be 2-3 times the current market size, automotive, industrial applications will be the hot spot of future market growth.