A power component for AI, which was unwanted at $1 just a year ago, has seen its price multiply by tens of times a year later.
This component is the ISL99390FRZ-TR5935 from Renesas, a 90A Smart Power Stage (SPS) module. It is not a "mainstream" high-value AI chip like GPUs or HBM. In fact, in the second half of last year, there was abundant spot inventory, and no one paid much attention to it at around $1. Surprisingly, in May this year, its price surged to a peak of $40 to $50.
Why did the price of a single power component surge so dramatically within a year?
After reading this article, you will learn:
1. From $1 to tens of dollars, what was the price trajectory of the 99390?
2. Why has the price of this power component continued to climb?
3. Why has the hype cooled down after a few months of popularity?
01. Surging Tens of Times in a Year: What Did the 99390 Go Through?
Since the second quarter of this year, chip part numbers related to server power supplies have become significantly more active in the spot market. Among them, the ISL99390FRZ-TR5935 from Renesas (hereinafter referred to as the 99390) has attracted considerable attention.
By integrating transaction data and market intelligence provided by multiple frontline chip distributors, we have mapped out its general price trajectory over the past year:
In the second half of last year, it attracted little attention. The spot price of the 99390 was roughly under $1. As a conventional power component, supply was abundant, and market interest was low.
Around the Spring Festival this year, some distributors noted that buyers had started purchasing this part number, although prices had not yet shown significant changes.
In March, search interest for this component on third-party websites began to rise, and market shipments increased accordingly. Some distributors reported that large traders started purchasing in March, and prices began to climb.
By late April, some overseas end customers started purchasing through large traders. The price of this component had already risen to over $10, driving demand to a minor peak in early May.
In May, this component experienced a full-blown surge, with prices soaring from the beginning to the end of the month. In early May, the price was in the $20s; by mid-to-late May, it climbed to the $30s; and by the end of May, it reached the $40s. Some quotes even went as high as $40 to $50. One distributor frankly stated, "It used to be offered at $0.3 with no takers, and now it has skyrocketed to 300 or 400 RMB."
Entering June, demand for this component began to cool down gradually. Prices had already slipped in early June, returning to around $30, with some distributors noting a decrease in demand.
Afterwards, the hype around the 99390 dropped significantly, and many distributors shifted their focus away from this component. However, the price remained relatively firm, holding at around $30.
Over the past week, some distributors reported that this component has experienced slight "anomalies" in the market again. Some channels indicated they have temporarily halted shipments, and market quotes have become somewhat chaotic.
How this component will evolve going forward remains to be seen.
02. Why Has the Price of This Power Component Continued to Climb?
Synthesizing information from multiple sources, we found that this surge in popularity for the 99390 traces back to a supply chain adjustment by NVIDIA in 2024.
According to public information, regarding the power supply for the Blackwell platform, NVIDIA adjusted the market share of MPS, one of its previous primary suppliers. Manufacturers such as Renesas and Infineon took over a portion of the power supply solution share, leading to a corresponding increase in related orders. The 99390 is precisely the part number involved in this round of order growth.
In addition, several inherent characteristics of the 99390 dictate that once demand picks up, its price is highly susceptible to upward movement.
First, the usage volume is not just one; it starts at over a dozen.
The 99390 primarily steps down and supplies power to CPUs, GPUs, and AI accelerators, converting 12V to the sub-1V low voltage required by the chip core. A single unit supports up to 90A, but large chips typically require hundreds of amps, necessitating the use of multiple units in parallel. Factoring in power delivery for VRAM, SoCs (System on Chip), and other components, a single board often requires a dozen or more of these power components.
Second, it is inherently designed for AI applications.
The first application scenario listed in the Renesas datasheet is "GPUs, ASICs, and AI accelerators," prioritized ahead of servers and cloud computing. In other words, it was originally designed to supply power to such high-compute chips. As AI server shipments scale up, demand for these power components naturally surges.
Third, downstream designs are locked in, resulting in high replacement costs.
These power components are part of a locked-in solution with the original manufacturer's controller. Parameter matching, loop compensation, and thermal management between the controller and the SPS are all tuned together; changing a single component means redesigning the entire power delivery network from scratch. Servers differ from consumer products. Running a platform certification cycle for Intel or NVIDIA takes months at a minimum—it is not as simple as tweaking a BOM (Bill of Materials) and swapping a part. No engineer is willing to risk disrupting a running server.
Alternative solutions do exist. Industry insiders note that Infineon and TI both offer replaceable components, and domestic alternatives are also available. However, frontline feedback indicates that such replacements are basically "a last resort." Some smaller manufacturers with matching parameters might dare to switch, but large companies demand consistency and simply will not make the change.
03. Why Has the Hype Cooled Down After a Few Months of Popularity?
Currently, the hype around the 99390 has visibly subsided, demand has softened, and market transaction prices have fallen from their peak back to the $30s and $40s. Yet, at the same time, some buyers are still acquiring inventory at $60 to $70.
Regarding demand, frontline opinions are mixed. Some report that in May and June, there were exceptionally high inquiries for this component, predominantly from overseas, and domestically concentrated in East China. Others claim that end customers have already swept up most of the available stock, leaving little spot inventory in the market. Meanwhile, rumors have also emerged about some customers canceling orders.
Some industry insiders believe that during the initial price hikes and shortages, some customers may have placed orders with multiple suppliers simultaneously or inflated their demand figures. As prices fall, the "inflated volume" from duplicate orders and over-reporting is the first to be canceled. Therefore, order cancellations do not necessarily mean that real demand has suddenly vanished; it may simply be the market squeezing out the excess from earlier orders. Others argue that most of the inventory is still just circulating among traders, with a relatively larger component of speculation.
As for those still acquiring inventory at $60 to $70, industry insiders point out that they are not buying based on market trends, but because their production lines "cannot stop." The loss from a server line halting for even a single day far outweighs this price premium. It is also possible they are fulfilling contracts signed at high prices earlier. Additionally, some large manufacturers only dare to use components with clear, traceable origins.
The door for alternatives is also slowly opening. Distributors focusing on Renesas note that Infineon and TI both offer corresponding components, and domestic solutions in China are also following suit. However, as mentioned earlier, the threshold for such replacements in servers is extremely high. The large manufacturers are the ones truly absorbing the price hikes without switching components. Some also mentioned that the current cooling in demand might be related to overseas end customers taking holidays.
A conventional power component priced at around $1 has seen its price multiply by tens of times within a year. Now, with demand softening and prices falling, the hype is gradually subsiding.