The mobile phone radio frequency (RF) front-end module and component market is developing rapidly. In 2016, its market size was 10.1 billion U.S. dollars and is expected to reach 22.7 billion U.S. dollars by 2022, with a compound annual growth rate of 14%. Such rapid growth has provoked the envy of manufacturers in other semiconductor markets.

Evolution of mobile communication technology

From 2016 to 2022, the mobile phone RF front-end market will more than double

The mobile phone radio frequency (RF) front-end module and component market is developing rapidly. In 2016, its market size was 10.1 billion U.S. dollars and is expected to reach 22.7 billion U.S. dollars by 2022, with a compound annual growth rate of 14%. Such rapid growth has provoked the envy of manufacturers in other semiconductor markets. However, the growth rates of various mobile phone RF front-end components are different. For example, the compound annual growth rate of antenna tuners is 40%, the compound annual growth rate of filters (Filters) is 21%, and the compound annual growth rate of RF switches (Switches) The compound annual growth rate of RF power amplifiers and low noise amplifiers (PAs & LNAs) is only 1%.

2016-2022 mobile phone RF front-end module and component market

Filters are the largest business segment in the RF front-end market, and its market size will grow from US$5.2 billion in 2016 to US$16.3 billion in 2022. The driving force of the filter market comes from the need for additional filtering of new antennas, and the need for more bulk acoustic wave (BAW) filters for multi-carrier aggregation (CA).
Power amplifier (PA) and low noise amplifier (LNA) are the second largest business segments in the RF front-end market, but their growth is weak. The growth of the high-end LTE power amplifier market will be balanced by the shrinking of the 2G and 3G markets. Due to the emergence and growth of new antennas, the low-noise amplifier market will move forward steadily.

PA module

LNA LMM and LNA RDM

Switching is the third largest business segment in the RF front-end market, and its market size will grow from US$1 billion in 2016 to US$2 billion in 2022. This market will grow mainly driven by the antenna switch business.

Finally, antenna tuners are the smallest business segment in the RF front-end market. The market size in 2016 was about 36 million U.S. dollars and is expected to reach 272 million U.S. dollars in 2022. The main reason for the growth of this market is the addition of tuning functions to the main antenna and diversity antenna.

Mobile phone RF front end is a highly complex industry

The double-digit growth of the mobile phone RF front-end market has brought "sweet troubles": increased complexity!

The deployment and access to 3G and 4G networks has accelerated the development of smart phones, allowing people to enjoy more network services, including instant messaging, music, photos, movies, and video chats. High-quality video downloads and uploads are an "infinite" drive for enhanced bandwidth and peak data rates.

Number of frequency bands supported by iPhone smartphones

This continuous growth of mobile data has led to the need to use more radio spectrum. In mobile communications, with the rapid increase in the number of users and types of technologies, radio frequency spectrum has become a scarce resource.

In order to cope with the above-mentioned excessive demand, mobile phones must meet complex requirements, such as:
-Multi-band support for regional and global roaming
-Support for multiple cellular modes, including 2G, 3G, 4G, WiFi, Bluetooth, near field Communication (NFC), Global Positioning System (GPS)
-Use multiple input multiple output (MIMO) to improve communication quality, increase data rate and increase effective range
-Use smart antenna technology (such as beamforming or diversity) to enhance a single data signal Performance
-Carrier aggregation (CA) supports wider bandwidth and improves bandwidth experience, such as providing higher peak data rates, greater overall network capacity and lower latency, etc.

All these requirements (frequency band from low frequency to high frequency) have brought huge challenges to mobile phone RF front-end architecture, design and manufacturing!

Therefore, the mobile phone RF front-end industry is thirsty for "innovation", and its innovation is mainly reflected in three aspects:
-Materials: develop new RF SOI substrates, such as SOITEC's e-Si substrate, to reduce substrate leakage Or reduce parasitic capacitance.
-Design: New internal component design, such as ACCO's power amplifier, can improve the performance of SOI-based power amplifiers, and can compete with gallium arsenide (GaAs) power amplifiers used in the mid- and low-frequency bands.
-Architecture: Integrate three duplexers into a hexaplexer, or build a multi-mode multi-band power amplifier module, which can work in all low-frequency, high-frequency or mid-frequency bands.

The innovation of mobile phone RF front end

Four manufacturers monopolize 90% of the mobile phone RF front-end market. How can new manufacturers enter?

Broadcom (Broadcom), Skyworks, Qorvo and Murata (Murata) have established a leading advantage in the mobile phone RF front-end market. New manufacturers must be able to supply products that meet the needs of the mobile phone industry in large quantities, while also gaining support from major customers.

On the other hand, once the new technology is implemented, it may occupy the market within five years and change the industrial structure of manufacturers and suppliers.

For example, in the antenna radio frequency switch (RF-switch), the SOI switch has grown from less than 20% of the market share in 2010 to 95% of the market share in 2016. Companies such as Peregrine have started from Silicon-on-Sapphire (Silicon-on-Sapphire). , SOS) switch to SOI.

When innovation occurs, the entire industrial chain and value chain will change, and manufacturers will either work hard to adapt or leave. Substrate suppliers and foundry service providers will be deeply affected by this rapid technological change.

Integration and M&A history of the RF front-end industry

Leading vendors and potential "disruptive technology" vendors

In the short term, manufacturers like Cavendish Kinetics with low-loss RF MEMS xPxT switches can achieve innovations in RF front-end architecture without the need for expensive duplexers and multiplexers.

In the long run, potential technological innovation can even subvert the mobile radio frequency industry. For example, Seamless Waves is developing CMOS-based tunable analog-to-digital converters and tunable digital-to-analog converters, which can actively focus on a specific frequency and adjust the bandwidth to convert only the required part of the input signal. If this technology manages to achieve the low power consumption and small size required by smart phones, it will very likely change the RF front-end industry and derive more innovative developments!

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