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The Device Markets Behind Electrification, Industrial Automation, Connectivity and the New Space Economy

Mobility Foresights Technology Research | Hub Analysis | September 2026

AI accelerators dominate headlines, but most semiconductor units and a large share of industry revenue come from other devices. These are the power, analog, RF, microcontroller, automotive, space-grade and photonic chips that make electrification, automation and connectivity possible. Four forces are reshaping them:

• Wide-bandgap materials such as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) are replacing silicon in power conversion.
• Vehicles are consolidating dozens of electronic control units into zonal and central computers.
• Low-Earth-orbit constellations have created volume demand for radiation-tolerant electronics.
• Export controls and supply-chain de-risking are pushing customers to qualify second sources outside a single country.

This hub brings together 88 Mobility Foresights market studies across eight areas: power semiconductors; analog, mixed-signal and power management; RF and wireless connectivity; MCUs, processors, FPGAs and ASICs; automotive semiconductors; radiation-hardened and space electronics; lasers and photonics; and emerging devices.

Key Takeaways

• Wide-bandgap power devices are taking share across every conversion market. GaN is gaining in chargers, solar and data centers, SiC in EV and high-voltage inverters, and gallium oxide and diamond are emerging next.
• Analog is becoming a supply-security product. Defense-grade and China-independent precision analog are funded procurement priorities.
• Connectivity chips are multiplying. Wi-Fi 7, sub-GHz IoT, Matter and direct-to-satellite links all need new radios.
• Automotive silicon content is rising with zonal architecture. Functional-safety requirements favor qualified suppliers.
• Space and photonics are high-growth niches. Rad-hard GaN, space power converters, ultrafast lasers and thin-film lithium niobate are scaling from specialty to volume.

How We Segment Semiconductor Devices

1. Power Semiconductors: GaN, SiC and Beyond

Wide-bandgap semiconductors switch faster and waste less energy than silicon, shrinking power converters and improving efficiency. SiC entered mass-market EVs in 2018 and now dominates 800-volt traction inverters. The SiC-based high-voltage inverter market report covers its use in EVs, rail, solar and industrial drives. GaN is winning in lower-voltage, high-frequency applications:

• The GaN-based solar microinverter market report covers rooftop solar.
• The GaN in wireless power transfer market study covers wireless charging.
• The bi-directional GaN power IC market and bidirectional GaN converter market reports cover single devices that block and conduct in both directions. These simplify battery chargers, solar-plus-storage and EV onboard chargers.

The next materials are further out. The gallium oxide (Ga2O3) power semiconductor market report covers an ultra-wide-bandgap material that can be grown from melt, potentially at lower cost than SiC. The diamond semiconductor materials market study covers diamond, which offers exceptional thermal conductivity and breakdown strength but remains early-stage.

2. Analog, Mixed-Signal and Power Management

Analog chips convert real-world signals such as temperature, pressure, sound and current into data, and manage power. They are long-lived products with high switching costs, which makes supply security a priority. Four reports cover precision analog:

• Our precision analog and mixed signal IC market report sizes the category.
• The defense-grade precision analog market study covers devices qualified for military use.
• The China-independent high-precision analog market report covers the supply chains customers are building to reduce geographic dependence.
• The sensor fusion and mixed-signal interface market study covers the chips that combine inputs from multiple sensors.

Two reports cover industrial sensing:

• The industrial automation sensing semiconductor market report covers semiconductors used in factory sensing.
• The industrial edge sensing and measurement market study covers chips that digitize and pre-process measurements at the machine.

Power management and protection devices appear in almost every product:

• The zero-standby power switch market report covers switches that cut idle power to near zero, driven by energy-efficiency regulation.
• The adaptive fuel gauges for battery management market study covers battery state-of-charge chips.
• The smart LED driver IC market report covers LED drivers.
• The medical AC-DC power supply market study covers medical-grade power supplies.
• The electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection diode market and high-current common-mode choke market reports cover protection and noise-suppression components.
• The CMOS op amp market, PNP transistors market and consumer electronics class D audio amplifier market studies cover amplifier and discrete building blocks.

3. RF and Wireless Connectivity

Wireless standards are multiplying across home, industry and space. Wi-Fi 7 certification began in 2024, and the Matter smart-home standard, launched in 2022, is unifying device interoperability. Four reports cover the chips:

• The Wi-Fi 7 RF front-end market report covers front-end modules.
• The NFC and Matter-enabled IoT connectivity chip market study covers smart-home connectivity chips.
• The wireless SoC market and ultra-low-power wireless SoC market reports cover the system-on-chips that combine radio and processor in connected devices.

Long-range and satellite links are growing:

• The sub-GHz IoT connectivity market and sub-GHz wireless SoC market reports cover low-frequency radios used in smart meters, agriculture and asset tracking.
• The satellite connectivity chip market study covers chips that connect phones and IoT devices directly to satellites, following 3GPP's adoption of non-terrestrial network standards.

Frequency generation and higher bands:

• The RF frequency synthesizer market and RF frequency divider market reports cover the clock and frequency-generation components in radios and test equipment.
• The 5G capacitor market study covers passive components for 5G devices and infrastructure.
• The terahertz semiconductor chip market and sub-millimeter wave detector market reports cover devices above 100 GHz, used in imaging, security screening and future 6G research.

4. MCUs, Processors, FPGAs and ASICs

Microcontrollers are becoming AI-capable. The AI MCU (microcontroller) market report covers MCUs with built-in neural accelerators for sensing, voice and vision at the edge. Three reports cover industrial processors:

• The industrial automation MCU and processor market report covers controllers for factory equipment.
• The RISC-V industrial processor market study covers processors based on the open RISC-V instruction set, which avoids licensing fees and reduces dependence on a single architecture owner.
• The 18 nm FD-SOI microcontroller market report covers a process technology that combines low power with embedded non-volatile memory for automotive and industrial MCUs.

Programmable and custom logic:

• The embedded FPGA market report covers programmable logic blocks embedded in other chips.
• The AI-optimized FPGA boards market study covers FPGA accelerator cards.
• The machine vision FPGA market and smart security FPGA market reports cover imaging and security applications.
• The antifuse FPGA market study covers one-time-programmable devices valued in aerospace for their radiation tolerance and tamper resistance.
• The application specific integrated circuit market report covers custom chips.
• The secure edge processing and embedded security market study covers hardware security for connected devices, increasingly required by regulation.

5. Automotive Semiconductors

Vehicles are replacing distributed electronic control units with zonal controllers and central computers, and electrification adds high-voltage power electronics. Three reports cover the architecture:

• Our automotive zonal architecture semiconductor market report covers zonal architecture.
• The functional safety and ASIL-driven semiconductor market study covers chips certified to the ISO 26262 safety standard.
• The AI-driven RISC-V SoCs for automotive and ADAS market report covers RISC-V-based processors for driver assistance.

Electrification electronics:

• The vehicle electrification control semiconductor market report covers electrification control chips.
• The electric vehicle motor microcontroller market study covers motor-control MCUs.
• The power electronics sensing market for SiC and GaN-based EV platforms report covers current and temperature sensing in fast-switching inverters.
• The high-voltage automotive photorelay market and automotive HV opto semiconductor market studies cover optically isolated switches used to monitor 400V and 800V batteries safely.
• The electric control suspension microcontrollers market report covers active-suspension controllers.
• The automotive power-over-coax inductors market study covers the inductors that carry power and data over a single cable to cameras and radars.

6. Rad-Hard, Space and Defense Electronics

Large low-Earth-orbit constellations have changed space electronics from a handful of exquisite satellites to production volumes. Radiation-hardened GaN is replacing older silicon power devices:

• The rad-hard GaN transistors market and rad-hard GaN FET market reports cover radiation-hardened GaN transistors.
• The radiation-hardened GaN gate driver market study covers the drivers they need.

Power and control on satellites:

• The satellite DC-DC converter market, radiation-hardened DC-DC power converter market and space point-of-load converter market reports cover satellite power conversion.
• The radiation hardened controller market study covers onboard controllers.
• The star tracker sensor systems market report covers attitude sensors.
• The space-grade radiation sensors market study covers radiation monitoring.

Defense RF uses the same technology base. The gallium nitride (GaN) defense power amplifiers market report covers amplifiers for radar, EW and communications. The low-SWaP RF front-end modules market study covers compact, low size-weight-and-power modules for drones, missiles and soldier radios.

7. Lasers and Photonics

Lasers are essential tools in manufacturing. Ultrafast lasers deliver pulses of picoseconds or femtoseconds that remove material without heat damage. Six reports cover the tools:

• The infrared (IR) picosecond laser system market report covers picosecond laser systems.
• The ultrashort pulse laser marker market and UV laser marking system market studies cover precision marking for electronics, medical devices and traceability.
• The e-mobility laser welding market report covers welding of battery cells, busbars and hairpin motor windings.
• The laser glass cutting machine market study covers cutting glass for displays and substrates.
• The high-power laser fiber cable market report covers the delivery fibers.

Photonic components:

• The lithium niobate photonic circuit market and lithium niobate laser market reports cover thin-film lithium niobate, a material enabling very fast, low-power optical modulators for data centers and quantum systems.
• The narrow-linewidth lasers market study covers lasers used in coherent communications, FMCW LiDAR and quantum sensing.
• The nanophotonic optical parametric oscillator (OPO) market report covers compact tunable light sources.
• The laser driver ICs market and avalanche photodiode market studies cover the electronic driver and detector ends of optical links.
• The high resolution laser spectrum analyzer market report covers test equipment.

Ultraviolet is a distinct niche. The far-UVC LED market report covers 222 nm-class light sources studied for disinfecting occupied spaces. The ultraviolet (UV) disinfection chip market study covers UV-C LEDs for water and surface disinfection.

8. Emerging Devices and Quantum

Several device technologies are moving from research toward products:

• The magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM) market report covers non-volatile memory increasingly embedded in microcontrollers.
• The neuromorphic chip market and photonic memristor market studies cover brain-inspired and optical computing hardware.
• The nanowire transistor market and silicene transistor market reports cover transistor structures beyond today's gate-all-around devices.
• The graphene supercapacitor chip market study covers on-chip energy storage.
• The quantum computing fridge market report covers the dilution refrigerators that cool superconducting quantum processors near absolute zero, a supply chain sensitive to helium-3 availability.

Where Value Is Created: The Device Value Chain

Regional perspective

• United States. Leads in analog, FPGA, RF and defense electronics, with CHIPS Act funding for domestic capacity.
• Europe. A power-semiconductor and automotive-chip leader, particularly in SiC, MCUs and sensors, supported by the EU Chips Act.
• Japan. Strong in power devices, optoelectronics and materials.
• China. The largest consumer of many device types and rapidly expanding domestic mature-node, SiC and GaN production.
• Taiwan and South Korea. Key foundry, packaging and component suppliers.

What to Watch Through 2032

1. 200 mm SiC transition: cost reduction and industry restructuring in SiC substrates.
2. GaN in data centers and EVs: penetration into higher-power applications.
3. Zonal architecture timing: adoption across mass-market vehicle platforms.
4. RISC-V in safety-critical markets: qualification in automotive and industrial applications.
5. Gallium and germanium supply: export controls and new non-Chinese production.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between SiC and GaN?

Both are wide-bandgap semiconductors that switch more efficiently than silicon. SiC is favored at high voltage and power, such as EV traction inverters, while GaN excels at high frequency and lower voltages, such as chargers, solar and data center power.

Why are analog chips important for supply security?

Analog chips sit in nearly every electronic system, stay in production for many years and are hard to substitute. Defense and industrial customers are qualifying suppliers outside single-country supply chains to reduce risk.

What is zonal architecture in cars?

Zonal architecture groups a vehicle's electronics by physical zone, connected to a few central computers, instead of using dozens of separate control units. It reduces wiring and enables software-defined vehicles.

Why is RISC-V growing?

RISC-V is an open instruction-set architecture that companies can use without licensing fees and customize freely, which appeals to industrial, automotive and regional chipmakers seeking independence.

What makes electronics radiation-hardened?

Radiation-hardened devices use design, materials and processes that tolerate the ionizing radiation found in space and some defense environments without failing or corrupting data.

What are ultrafast lasers used for?

Picosecond and femtosecond lasers remove material with minimal heat, making them ideal for precision cutting, drilling and marking in electronics, medical devices, displays and battery manufacturing.

What do Mobility Foresights semiconductor reports include?

Each linked report provides market size and multi-year forecasts, technology and supply-chain analysis, segmentation by device, application and region, competitive landscape and company profiles, and recent developments. Customization is available on request.

Work With Mobility Foresights

Mobility Foresights provides syndicated and custom research across power, analog, RF, embedded, automotive, space and photonic semiconductors. Each report linked above can be purchased individually or tailored to a specific device, application or region. To request a sample or commission a bespoke study, contact our technology research team.