Introduction to the Global Circuit Protection Component Market:

The global circuit protection component market has grown by about $2 billion in market value over the past five years and is rapidly approaching the $6 billion USD world market threshold. The circuit protection component market is divided into overcurrent and overvoltage protection. Each segment accounts for about 50% of the market demand in terms of global value, but the volume of demand (units sold) is largely for overvoltage protection in the form of ESD protection devices for wireless handsets and other portable electronics.

Causes of Overcurrent and Overvoltage Events:

The global market for circuit protection components includes a variety of component constructions that are specifically designed to protect against the adverse affects of lightning (1), electrostatic discharge (2) line switching (3) or application specific transient events (such as electromagnetic pulse) on communications and power lines.

Technology Solutions for Circuit Protection:

Traditional technologies employed to manufacture circuit protection components include silicon, ceramic, mixed metal, polymer, gas, precious metal and plastic dielectric film. Some manufacturers of these components maintain all these technologies under one corporate umbrella, while others maintain specific investments in one specific type of core competency. Still other manufacturers employ like technologies to compete in two markets (such as in ceramics and mixed metals where the production processes are quite similar although the customer base is a bit more diverse).

Designing in Circuit Protection:

The action of the applied technology is to design a part that creates a barrier to an overcurrent or overvoltage event applied to the system from an external source. This is an important market concept to understand because the circuit protection component is not a component that is required for the function of the device. It is a solution in search of a problem. A safety device designed to protect against known events that have a high probability of occurring and for which the semiconductors in the device in question have demonstrated susceptibility to damage by excess voltage or current.

Redundancy Creates a Robust Market Environment:

Therefore, from a market perspective, we see that the concept of circuit protection as a point of education to the consumer is an easy sell. This market concept impacts the market at multiple levels because of the many points of demarcation in the global high-technology supply chain. Points of demarcation include power transmission, power distribution, service entrance, AC outlet; central office, base station, and station class service entrance. The AC charger is the point of demarcation for digital electronics, and the point of digital demarcation are ports, screens and keypads. In cars, the central circuit protection systems has been the modular fuse box; but cars also protect DC motors and light functions with circuit protection as well. Stories of lightning and ESD damaging sensitive electronics go back 30 years and have impacted each point of demarcation noted above.

Protecting Consumers Leads to Regulations – A lot of Them:

Also, it has been direct consumer exposure to external transient events that has resulted in the large number of government and industry specific regulations that have been developed to protect the consumer against the affects of transients. Telcordia and IEC are the most widely accepted regulatory agencies regarding circuit protection.

However, specific industries such as automotive, electric rail, defense, lighting, oilwell, heavy duty truck and bus, nuclear power, marine, medical implant, etc., have industry specific recommendations, suggestions and/or requirements for components consumed in their specific segments. Manufacturers should lend themselves to more industry specific approvals to grow their respective businesses. They should also be active in participating in government and industry specific panels that determine the requirements for circuit protection components old within their respective industries.

Low Volume, High Value Businesses In Circuit Protection:

Overcurrent protection components are a low volume, high value segment of the market and include glass cartridge, blade, solid matrix, axial and radial leaded components that employ the combination of unlike metal alloys that change when exposed to heat (excess current). The same concept applies to the doped polymer fuses (PTC Thermistor), which are resettable in accordance with the nature of the dopants to re-align. Fuses are consumed in digital electronics, automobiles, industrial and power electronics.

High Volume, High Value Businesses in Circuit Protection: Overvoltage protection components include silicon surge suppressors, metal oxide varistors, gas discharge tubes, line feed resistors and doped polymer chips. Silicon surge protection components are the largest market segment in dollars and are composed of zener diodes (used in series or parallel), silicon avalanche TVS diodes, and thyristors. The segment of the market grew substantially since 2003 in conjunction with the growth in demand for ESD protection in wireless handsets, television sets, computers, automobiles, power, industrial and specialty electronics. Demand for ESD protection, which also had a positive impact on the market for multilayered chip varistors, was the direct result of increased component content in advanced wireless handsets, multicore microprocessors, flat panel television sets, portable MP3 players and game consoles, each requiring multi-port protection for power, audio, video and data input.

How to buy Circuit Protection Components:

Circuit protection components are sold primarily through electronic component distributors worldwide or direct from manufacturer to original equipment manufacturers or to contract electronics manufacturers. Getting designed in is extremely critical in obtaining sales in the Asia-Pacific region, and a good knowledge base regarding how circuit protection devices clamp or crowbar unwanted transients is expected among the major telecommunications, automotive and industrial electronics manufacturers. Manufacturers such as Littelfuse, Cooper Industries, Tyco Electronics (Raychem Circuit Protection), EPCOS and Vishay have concerted efforts and marketing programs dedicated to selling circuit protection in broad product portfolios.