What to watch for at PCIM Europe 2025

PCIM Europe is a leading international event that brings together industry and academic experts who are shaping the future of power electronics, intelligent motion, renewable energy, and energy management. From cutting-edge research to real-world product development, the event covers the entire value chain, making it a key hub for innovation.

As new technologies take center stage, our analysts will be on-site, tracking the most important trends and insights. Here are their top five trends to watch out for at the show.

Planning to attend? Book a meeting with our team to explore the latest developments and what they mean for the industry and your business.

Trend #1: Data centers to be center stage as the most technologically demanding growth sector.

2024 was a down year for the power semiconductor industry. Device vendors are looking for the growth areas to break the slump, and data centers seem likely to be the best bet. The scale of the data center build out, coupled with ever-increasing power levels, makes it an attractive story to tell. Key trends like advance point-of-load (POL) architectures, higher bus voltages and integration of advanced power management are shaping the evolution of power solutions in AI data centers.

Trend #2: Electric vehicles to be quiet, since the industry has shifted to more of a delivery phase, than an innovation phase. But can power grids handle the rise of electric vehicles (EVs)?

EVs had been the darling of the power semiconductor for many years. Between 2020 and 2023 the number of EVs shipped each year exploded and the value of semiconductors in these vehicles is very high. However, this has now shifted to a market more focussed on delivery and scaling than innovation which is a less compelling marketing hook. 2024 also saw lower growth in EV shipments than expected, tempering industry excitement further.

The rise of EVs has been exciting, but it has also put pressure on our power grids. It is expected that EVs will pick up their growth again in 2026, but as EV adoption increases, power grids will be being stretched thin. Bi-directional charging where EVs can return power to the grid, could help ease the load, though it still faces consumer and technical hurdles. For now, flexible charging times, smarter scheduling and better infrastructure planning are helping. Challenges arise as more EVs are added with concerns about grid overload or collapse and the limitations of bi-directional charging. The question remains: can power grids handle this increased demand, and is there a viable solution? The industry needs serious investments for upgrading the grid infrastructure.

Trend #3: A focus on systems solutions, to try and ease integration processes downstream.

Silicon carbide and gallium nitride are now well established in certain applications, with the next challenge being diversification to a broader range of areas to provide new growth opportunities and greater robustness. To ease this expansion, it is necessary for device vendors to provide greater support to customers, and therefore we expect more and more examples of system solutions and reference designs. This is of particular importance for wide bandgap devices due to the unique challenges and opportunities they present. 

Trend #4: A bounce back from the industrial sector? 2024 was a historically bad year, but it has plenty of opportunities for growth in the future.

Whilst the entire power semiconductor industry suffered in 2024, the industrial sector was particularly hard hit. As such a key application area for power semiconductors, device vendors will be keenly watching for a rebound. Higher cost of capital, macro-economic challenges, and elevated levels of uncertainty all make for a challenging investment environment but there is hope. Increasing automation in factories and the electrification of industrial traction offer opportunities, and renewable energy continues to fall in cost whilst providing greater energy security for countries which lack natural resources.

Even though the industrial sector witnessed a massive set back in 2024, the demand for clean energy continues to grow. A surge in global energy prices – highlighted by a 4% rise in electricity costs in 2024, the highest annual increase since 2007 and well above the 2.5% rise in 2023, combined with climate change initiatives, growing regulatory pressures, supply chain challenges and decline in renewable energy costs, are driving the demand for more efficient power electronics in the power and energy sector.

Power electronics play a critical role: from integrating renewables into the grid to managing energy storage and improving how energy is harvested. Innovations such as intelligent monitoring systems, enhanced thermal management and bi-directional power flow control are helping make renewable systems more reliable and effective. They are also becoming vital in building more resilient grids and supporting decentralised energy models, in many ways these are the backbone of energy transition.

Trend #5: New life for silicon in a wide bandgap world.

Despite so much focus on silicon carbide and gallium nitride, it is not yet time to abandon silicon. Many industrial and motor drive applications require high power and lower switching frequencies. This means they are likely to be well served by silicon insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) rather than their silicon carbide counterparts. Silicon offers attractive pricing options. And, of course, silicon-based products offer unique flexibility for mixed-signal designs that require both control and power in the smallest package.

Besides being a suitable fit for high-power, low-frequency applications, silicon also performs well on the cost-to-manufacture and reliability sides. Wide bandgap semiconductors (WBGs) have greater efficiency at high speeds and temperatures, but at greater cost and design complexity. For example, silicon carbide is hard to work with in manufacturing, adding to the cost. For most of the industrial applications, where cost, long-term reliability, and operational ease are equally valued to performance, silicon is still the dependable and tried-and-tested choice.