Interviews - Chargerlab

ChargerLAB's Interview with WPC: Exploring the Current Status and Future Trends of Qi2

Joey — Sat, 20 Jul 2024 01:37:00 +0000

If you wanna buy the tester of POWER-Z, you can visit our Amazon store: Click here.

Introduction
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Welcome to ChargerLAB exclusive interview on the latest advancements in wireless charging technology! In this video, we dive deep into the Qi2 standard, exploring its greatest advantages, future upgrades, and much more.

Our expert guest, Executive Director of WPC (Wireless Power Consortium) Paul Struhsaker, provides valuable insights into the Qi2 certification process, the current charging speeds, and the potential for making Qi2 devices more affordable!

Interview With Global Visitor & Buyer in Hong Kong Consumer Electronics Fair 2024

Joey — Thu, 25 Apr 2024 02:06:18 +0000

If you wanna buy the tester of POWER-Z, you can visit our Amazon store: Click here.

Introduction
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Last year, ChargerLAB team went to Hong Kong and visited two exhibitions. One of them is Global Sources Consumer Electronics and the other is Hong Kong Electronics Fair. This year, we're back again, so let's hear the voices of visitors and buyers from all over the world as they share their thoughts on these two exhibitions.

Interview With Global Visitor & Buyer in Hong Kong Consumer Electronics Fair 2023

Yi — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 01:56:56 +0000

If you wanna buy the tester of POWER-Z, you can visit our Amazon store: Click here.

Introduction
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Not long ago, ChargerLAB team went to Hong Kong and visited two exhibitions. One of them is Global Sources Consumer Electronics and the other is Hong Kong Electronics Fair.
We want to hear different voices. So we interviewed buyers to find out how they felt about the show. And what they think about the power industry. Let's see what they want to say.

Interview With Global Visitor & Buyer in 2023 Asia Charging Expo (Fall)

Yi — Thu, 07 Sep 2023 02:18:22 +0000

If you wanna buy the tester of POWER-Z, you can visit our Amazon store: Click here.

Introduction
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Recently, the Asia Charging Expo 2023 officially opened on August 23. ChargerLAB also came to Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Center and interviewed some visitors/buyers from different regions/countries. Let's see what they want to say about Asia Charging Expo 2023.

Interview With Global Visitor & Buyer in Shenzhen Gifts and Home Products Fair

Yi — Sat, 29 Apr 2023 01:41:59 +0000

If you wanna buy the tester of POWER-Z, you can visit our Amazon store: Click here.

Introduction
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Recently, ChargerLAB returned to some offline exhibitions in Hong Kong and Shenzhen. We came to the Shenzhen World Exhibition and Convention Center and interviewed some visitors/buyers from different regions/countries.
Let's see their views on this Shenzhen Gift and Home Product Fair.

Exclusive Interview with Anker CEO Steven Yang: Stronger, Smaller, Cooler, and Cheaper GaN Chargers are Coming

Floyd — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 08:29:19 +0000

On September 24, 2019, in an event at the Shenzhen headquarters of Anker Innovations, Power Integrations CEO Balu Balakrishnan presented the one-millionth GaN-based IC to Anker CEO Steven Yang.

Floyd Wang, Editor-in-chief at ChargerLAB.com, sat down with Steven Yang and talked about PI's GaN chips and the future of Anker's GaN chargers.

The following is the transcript of the interview.

Floyd: Hello, I am Floyd with chargerlab.com, today I am here with the CEO of Anker, Steven. Hello, Steven.
Steven: Hi, Floyd.

Floyd: I have some questions for you. So how well are the GaN chargers of Anker selling?
Steven: Tremendously well. In Anker we sold more than 30 million of charging pieces last year. After the introduction of GaN at the end of last year, all the sales numbers have been across our expectations.

Floyd: So what are the main regions for the sales of GaN chargers?
Steven: Well, so Anker's traditionally very strong in the western markets, (developed countries) like US, UK, Germany, Japan, and also we have been increasingly popular in the developing markets such as the Middle East, South East Asia, and China. Especially in China actually, since Chinese customers are very fond of the GaN chargers (Floyd: Yes).

Floyd: So from the manufacturer's perspective, what do you think, is the advantage of PI's GaN solutions?
Steven: I think as the new generation of material, GaN is really providing us with some very cool technical advantages over silicon. In particular, PI's GaN, from the industry's leading provider, is stable, and compact, easy-to-build and easy-to-handle.

Floyd: So can you share with us about the upcoming new GaN chargers from Anker?
Steven: Well last year around this time, we introduced the first generation of GaN (products). These were mostly the lower-power-rating products with 30W, 45W-ish GaN products. So this year we will be taking these to a higher power rating as well as to the multiports, both USB-C and USB-A. And also taking them to be of other form factors, not just chargers, but other form factors.

Floyd: Are you also planning to bring the price of GaN chargers down?
Steven: Well, so we are happy to look up to (laugh) our partners. I think eventually great technology at the adoption curve. At the beginning of the adoption curve, it will be a little pricy, for example, PI has to recover the R&D cost, and for us too. But I think going forward, I am very confident that the price of the (GaN) chargers will go down together with the size, and the thermal of the chargers.

Floyd: Thank you for your time, Steven.
Steven: Sure. Thank you.

(End of the interview)

Power Integrations Delivers One-Millionth GaN-Based InnoSwitch™3 IC

Floyd — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 08:11:27 +0000

Power Integrations, the leader in high-voltage integrated circuits for energy-efficient power conversion, announced the delivery of its one-millionth InnoSwitch3 switcher IC featuring the company’s PowiGaN gallium-nitride technology on September 24. In an event at the Shenzhen headquarters of Anker Innovations, Power Integrations CEO Balu Balakrishnan presented the one-millionth GaN-based IC to Anker CEO Steven Yang. ChargerLAB was at the event for the complete coverage.

Anker is a leading manufacturer of chargers and adapters, supplying retailers worldwide with powerful, compact USB PD adapters and a wide range of chargers and adapters for laptops, smart mobile devices, set-top boxes, displays, appliances, networking gear and gaming products.

InnoSwitch3 offline CV/CC flyback switcher ICs with PowiGaN technology are up to 95% efficient across the load range. Very low switching and conduction losses of PowiGaN primary switch allows delivery of as much as 100 W from a space saving InSOP 24D surface mount package in enclosed adapter applications without requiring a heatsink. Quasi-resonant InnoSwitch3-CP, InnoSwitch3-EP and InnoSwitch3-Pro ICs combine the primary power switch, primary and secondary control with safety isolated high speed link (FluxLink) in between, as well as the secondary SR driver and feedback circuits in a single surface-mounted package. The superior switching performance of PowiGaN technology results in substantially higher efficiency, enabling very compact adapter designs.

Commented Mr. Balakrishnan: “Anker is a world leader in compact charger design, and was the first high-volume customer for InnoSwitch3 products with PowiGaN. I’m pleased to recognize Anker’s foresight and technical excellence, and to thank Mr. Yang for his critical contribution to the first successful mass-market deployment of high-voltage GaN technology.”

Added Mr. Yang: “By using PowiGaN-based InnoSwitch3 ICs we are able to offer USB PD chargers that are compact, lightweight, and capable of delivering high power output. We are excited to use this innovative new technology to help us achieve our goal to charge everything faster. We are confident this advancement will help us keep gaining positive market feedback and customer response.”

ChargerLAB's Exclusive Interview with Balu Balakrishnan, CEO of Power Integrations

Floyd Wang, Editor-in-chief at ChargerLAB.com, sat down with Mr. Balakrishnan and talked about PI's GaN chips and the future of GaN chargers.

The following is the transcript of the interview.

Floyd: Hello everyone, I am Floyd with chargerlab.com, today I am here with the CEO of Power Integrations, Mr. Balu. Hi, Mr. Balu.
Balu: Hello, How are you?

Floyd: I have some questions for you. Can you share with us about the shipment of PI's GaN chips?
Balu: Yes. We started shipping our PowiGaN-based products a few months ago, and we are very proud today to provide the millionth InnoSwitch3 based on our GaN technology to Anker!

Floyd: Congratulations.
Balu: Thank you.

Floyd: So what's the advantage of PI's GaN solutions?
Balu: Well, our PowiGaN switch technology allows the chargers to be much more smaller and much lighter, and I am sure you have seen Anker's latest one, a 30W adapter. And the main advantage we bring is that our GaN, or our PowiGaN switch, is integrated into our InnoSwitch3 switcher product, and one of the challenges with GaN is that because it's so fast, it's very difficult to drive, and very difficult to protect. And we take care of that, inside our product. So for the customer, it's very easy to design a power supply using our GaN product inside which is incorporated inside the InnoSwitch3.

Floyd: So can you share with us about some of the famous brands or big clients that have already adopted PI's GaN chips?
Balu: We can't specifically talk about OEMs because we have to keep them confidential. However, one I would say is that, I've said this before, that we are working with multiple OEMs and of course you've seen that we work with the after-market companies, like Anker, and some of the OEMs have already released the product, and some are yet to release the product. But we believe that in a very short time, you'll see a lot more products in the market place using our PowiGaN technology.

Floyd: We have seen more and more GaN chargers coming to the market in recent weeks, so what's your view on the development of GaN in consumer electronics?
Balu: I believe GaN is far superior than silicon that comes to power switchers, so I am very optimistic that GaN will rapidly replace silicon over the next year or two. It really comes down to the customer understanding the benefits of GaN which is smaller, lighter, faster technology. And as you can see, it's already happening. We have now many many products with our GaN technology. So I'm very optimistic that this will happen quite rapidly in the near future.

Floyd: So with the price of GaN chargers coming down, do you think that next year, 2020, will be the year of the popularization of GaN chargers?
Balu: Yeah I totally believe so especially because we have made it so easy to use with the driving and the protection built-in. It is no different than using a silicon-based InnoSwitch3. In fact, if you look at the product you can't even tell the difference, except for the performance.

Floyd: Yes, our teardown shows that the chargers look basically the same.
Balu: And I think that's what's going to transform the industry and so I truly believe that 2020 will be a turning point for GaN-based chargers.

Floyd: Last question, Oppo just announced a 65W GaN charger for its flagship smartphone. Is this a collaboration between Oppo and Power Integrations?
Balu: Well I can't specifically talk about any OEM, but have you done a teardown on it? (Floyd: Not yet) Well maybe when you do the teardown, then I'll be able to tell you more, but what we have said publicly is that the some of the OEMs are working on products that I said - some of the products are already released. And we think that we'll see multiple products are coming soon in the marketplace very soon.

Floyd: All right. Thank you, Mr. Balu.
Balu: Thank you.

(End of the interview)

About Power Integrations

Power Integrations, Inc. is a leading innovator in semiconductor technologies for high-voltage power conversion. The company’s products are key building blocks in the clean-power ecosystem, enabling the generation of renewable energy as well as the efficient transmission and consumption of power in applications ranging from milliwatts to megawatts. For more information please visit www.power.com.

UWE Tech Interview - World's First RISC-V USB-PD Controller and Future of Chargers

Floyd — Fri, 30 Aug 2019 03:23:49 +0000

Floyd, Editor-in-Chief at ChargerLAB.com, sit down with Carter, CEO of UWE Technology, and talked about UWE Tech's global first RISC-V based USB-PD controller and the future of chargers after the USB-PD Asia Expo was ended.

Video:

The following is the transcript of the interview.

Floyd：Hi Carter, can you introduce your company?

Carter：Hi. UWE Technology is a fabless chip vendor. We founded in 2015, and up till now, we have developed two generations of USB-PD controllers. The first generation is already shipping and our second generation is developed in this year. And now we are bringing the second generation to the exhibition to show our demo.

Floyd：So what's special about this second generation product?

Carter：OK. The second generation USB-PD controller is the UPD350. This generation product is the industry's first RISC-V architecture based PD SoC controller.

Floyd：So why do you choose RISC-V instead of ARM architecture?

Carter：Just as I said before, we bring the RISC-V architecture into our product, and that enables our customer to differentiate their USB-PD products. Because RISC-V architecture can enable our customers to build stronger products with more intelligence, etc.

Floyd：So Carter, what do you think, is the future for PD chargers?

Carter：OK. I think the PD chargers in the future will have more type-c ports, and will be more powerful in charging policies. I think so.

Floyd：I agree. Thank you, Carter.

Carter：Thank you.

(End of the interview)

About the UWE Technology

UWE Technologies Corp., Ltd., founded in December 2015, is a start-up company specializing in the design, development and sales of SoC integrated circuit chips in consumer electronics, industrial control, communications technology and automotive electronics. Headquartered in Weihai High-tech District, it has a R&D center in Shanghai. The team members are from top IC design companies, with the international vision and more than 15 years of relevant experience. At present, the company is committed to the development and marketing of USB PD/Type-C, industrial control, IoT Internet of Things products. So far, the USB PD/Type-C product family has evolved to the 2nd generation which is based on the RISC-V architecture.

About USB PD & Type-C Asia Expo

In its ninth consecutive year, USB-PD Asia is the largest exhibition to promote the fast-charging and peripherals industry, bringing together nearly 100 industry-chain quality suppliers, service providers, and thousands of buyers. Experts are invited to demonstrate the latest technology and application cases on the spot. The 2019 (Autumn) USB PD & Type-C Asia Expo was held on 23rd August 2019, at Floor 1&3, International Conference Center, Unit 4, Building B, Kexing Science Park, Nanshan District, Shenzhen, China.