POWER INTEGRATIONS INC 10-K

Item 1. Business. Overview We design, develop and market analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits (ICs) and other electronic components and circuitry used in high-voltage power conversion. Our products are used in power converters that convert electricity from a high-voltage source to the type of power required for a specified downstream use. In most cases, this conversion entails, among other functions, converting alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC) or vice versa, reducing or increasing the voltage, and regulating the output voltage and/or current according to the customer’s specifications. A large percentage of our products are ICs used in AC-DC power supplies, which convert the high-voltage AC from a wall outlet to the low-voltage DC required by most electronic devices. Power supplies incorporating our products are used with all manner of electronic products including mobile phones, computing and networking equipment, appliances, electronic utility meters, battery-powered tools, industrial controls, and “home-automation,” or “internet of things” applications such as networked thermostats, power strips and security devices. We also supply high-voltage LED drivers, which are AC-DC ICs specifically designed for lighting applications that utilize light-emitting diodes, and motor-driver ICs addressing brushless DC (BLDC) motors used in refrigerators, HVAC systems, ceiling fans and other consumer-appliance and light commercial applications. We also offer high-voltage gate drivers—either standalone ICs or circuit boards containing ICs, electrical isolation components and other circuitry—used to operate high-voltage switches such as insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) and silicon-carbide (SiC) MOSFETs. These combinations of switches and drivers are used for power conversion in high-power applications (i.e., power levels ranging from a few kilowatts up to gigawatts) such as industrial motors, solar- and wind-power systems, electric vehicles (EVs) and high-voltage DC transmission systems. Our products bring a number of important benefits to the power-conversion market compared with less advanced alternatives, including reduced component count and design complexity, smaller size, higher reliability and reduced time-to-market. Our products also reduce the energy consumption of power converters during normal use and in “standby” operation, when the end product is not in use. In addition to the environmental benefits of reduced energy usage, our energy-saving technologies provide a number of benefits to our customers; these include helping them meet the increasingly stringent efficiency standards now in effect for many electronic products, and enabling the elimination of bulky heatsinks used to dissipate the heat produced by wasted electricity. While the size of our addressable market fluctuates with changes in macroeconomic and industry conditions, the market has generally exhibited a modest growth rate over time as growth in the unit volume of power converters has been offset to a large degree by reductions in the average selling price of components in this market. Therefore, the growth of our business depends largely on increasing our penetration of the markets that we serve and on further expanding our addressable market. Our growth strategy includes the following elements: ● Increase our penetration of the markets we serve. We currently address AC-DC applications with power outputs up to approximately 500 watts, gate-driver applications ranging from a few kilowatts up to gigawatts, and motor-drive applications up to approximately 400 watts. Through our research and development efforts, we seek to introduce more advanced products for these markets offering higher levels of integration and performance compared to earlier products. We also continue to expand our sales and application-engineering staff and our network of distributors, as well as our offerings of technical documentation and design-support tools and services to help customers use our products. These tools and services include our PI Expert™ design software, which we offer free of charge, and our transformer-sample service. In 2022 we launched PowerPros ℠ , a live online video support service that enables power-supply designers to talk directly with members of our applications engineering team 24 hours a day, six days a week, anywhere in the world. Our market-penetration strategy also includes capitalizing on the importance of energy efficiency and renewable energy in the power conversion market. For example, our EcoSmart™ technology drastically reduces the amount of energy consumed by electronic products when they are not in use, helping our customers comply with regulations that seek to curb this so-called “standby” energy consumption. Also, our gate-driver products are critical components in energy-efficient DC motor drives, high-voltage DC transmission systems, solar and wind energy systems and electric transportation applications. 4 Table of Contents ● Increase the size of our addressable market. Prior to 2010 our addressable market consisted of AC-DC applications with up to about 50 watts of output, a served available market (SAM) opportunity of approximately $1.5 billion. Since that time we have expanded our SAM to approximately $4 billion through a variety of means. These include the introduction of products that enable us to address higher-power AC-DC applications (such as our Hiper™ product families), the introduction of LED-driver products, and our entry into the gate-driver market through the acquisition of CT-Concept Technologie AG in 2012. In 2016 we introduced the SCALE-iDriver TM family of ICs, broadening the range of gate-driver applications we can address, and in 2018 we introduced our BridgeSwitch™ motor-driver ICs, addressing BLDC motors, as described above. We have recently introduced a series of automotive-qualified versions of our products, including SCALE-iDriver, InnoSwitch™ and LinkSwitch™ ICs, targeting the EV market; we expect to introduce additional products targeting EVs in the future, and expect automotive applications to become a significant portion of our SAM over time. Also contributing to our SAM expansion has been the emergence of new applications within the power ranges that our products can address. For example, applications such as “smart” utility meters, battery-powered lawn equipment and bicycles, and USB power receptacles (often installed alongside traditional AC wall outlets) can incorporate our products. The increased use of connectivity, LED lighting and other power-consuming electronic features in consumer appliances has also enhanced our SAM. Finally, we have expanded our SAM through the development of new technologies that increase the value (and therefore the average selling prices) of our products. For example, our InnoSwitch™ ICs integrate circuitry from the secondary, or low-voltage, side of AC-DC power supplies, whereas earlier product families integrated circuitry only on the primary, or high-voltage side. In 2019 we began incorporating proprietary gallium-nitride (GaN) transistors in some our products, enabling a higher level of energy efficiency than ICs with silicon transistors. Since then, we have introduced a variety of new products utilizing GaN technology and we expect to address a wider range of applications with GaN-based products in the years ahead. We intend to continue expanding our SAM in the years ahead through all of the means described above. Industry Background Virtually every electronic device that plugs into a wall socket requires a power supply to convert the high-voltage alternating current provided by electric utilities into the low-voltage direct current required by most electronic devices. A power supply may be located inside a device, such as a consumer appliance or flat-panel TV, or it may be outside the device as in the case of a mobile-phone charger or an adapter for a cordless phone or cable modem. Until approximately 1970, AC-DC power supplies were generally in the form of line-frequency, or linear, transformers. These devices, consisting primarily of copper wire wound around an iron core, tend to be bulky and heavy, and typically waste a substantial amount of electricity. In the 1970s, the availability of high-voltage discrete semiconductors enabled the development of a new generation of power supplies known as switched-mode power supplies, or switchers. These switchers generally came to be cost-effective alternatives to linear transformers in applications requiring more than a few watts of power; in recent years the use of linear transformers has declined even further as a result of energy-efficiency standards and higher raw-material prices. Switchers are generally smaller, lighter-weight and more energy-efficient than linear transformers. However, switchers designed with discrete components are highly complex, containing numerous components and requiring a high level of analog design expertise. Further, the complexity and high component count of discrete switchers make them relatively costly, difficult to manufacture and prone to failures. Also, some discrete switchers lack protection and energy-efficiency features; adding these features may further increase the component count, cost and complexity of the power supply. In high-power systems such as industrial motor drives, electric locomotives and renewable-energy systems, power conversion is typically performed using arrays of high-power silicon transistors known as IGBT modules; these modules are operated by electronic circuitry known as gate drivers (or IGBT drivers), whose function is to ensure accurate, safe and reliable operation of the IGBT modules. Much like discrete power supplies, discrete gate drivers tend to be highly complex, requiring a large number of components and a great deal of design expertise. 5 Table of Contents Our Highly Integrated Approach In 1994 we introduced TOPSwitch, the industry’s first cost-effective high-voltage IC for switched-mode AC-DC power supplies. We have since introduced a range of other product families, expanding the range of power-supply applications we can serve and enhancing our competitiveness in applications that we already addressed . In 2012 we expanded our addressable market to include high-voltage gate drivers. Our ICs and gate drivers drastically reduce the complexity and component count of power converters compared to typical discrete designs by integrating many of the functions otherwise performed by numerous discrete electronic components, and by eliminating (or reducing the size and cost of) additional components through innovative system design. As a result, our products enable power converters to have superior features and functionality at a total cost equal to or lower than that of many competing alternatives. Our products offer the following key benefits: ● Fewer Components, Reduced Size and Higher Reliability Our highly integrated ICs and gate drivers enable designs with up to 70% fewer components than comparable discrete designs. This reduction in component count enhances reliability and efficiency, reduces size, and results in lower manufacturing costs for our customers. Power supplies that incorporate our ICs are also lighter and more portable than comparable power supplies built with linear transformers, which are still used in some low-power applications. ● Reduced Time-to-Market, Enhanced Manufacturability Because our products eliminate much of the complexity associated with the design of power converters, designs can typically be completed in much less time, resulting in more efficient use of our customers’ design resources and shorter time-to-market for new designs. The lower component count and reduced complexity enabled by our products also makes designs more suitable for high-volume manufacturing. We also provide extensive hands-on design support as well as online design tools, such as our PI Expert design software, that further reduce time-to-market and product development risks. ● Energy Efficiency Our patented EcoSmart technology, introduced in 1998, improves the energy efficiency of electronic devices during normal operation as well as standby and “no-load” conditions. This technology enables manufacturers to cost-effectively meet the growing demand for energy-efficient products, and to comply with increasingly stringent energy-efficiency requirements. Also, our GaN transistor technology, introduced in 2019, offers substantially higher levels of active-mode efficiency compared to traditional silicon-based switches, while our BridgeSwitch motor-driver ICs enable efficiency of up to 98.5 percent, not only minimizing waste but also eliminating the need for heatsinks in many applications, which in turn reduces cost and weight. ● Wide Power Range and Scalability Products in our current IC families can address AC-DC power supplies with output power up to approximately 500 watts as well as some high-voltage DC-DC applications; our high-voltage gate drivers are used in applications with power levels as high as one gigawatt, while our motor-driver ICs address BLDC applications up to about 400 watts. Within each of our product families, designers can scale up or down in power to address a wide range of designs with minimal design effort. Energy Efficiency Power supplies often draw significantly more electricity than the amount needed by the devices they power. As a result, billions of dollars’ worth of electricity is wasted each year, and millions of tons of greenhouse gases are unnecessarily produced by power plants. Energy waste occurs during the normal operation of a device and in standby mode, when the device is plugged in but idle. For example: computers and printers waste energy while in “sleep” mode; TVs that are turned off by remote control consume energy while awaiting a remote-control signal to turn them back on; a mobile-phone charger left plugged into a wall outlet continues to draw electricity even when not connected to the phone (a condition known as “no-load”); and many common household appliances, such as microwave ovens, dishwashers and washing machines, also consume power when not in use. In fact, a 2015 study by the National Resources Defense Council found that devices that are “always-on” but inactive may be causing as much as $19 billion in annual energy waste in the United States alone. 6 Table of Contents Lighting is another major source of energy waste. Less than 5% of the energy consumed by traditional incandescent light bulbs is converted to light, while the remainder is wasted as heat. The Alliance to Save Energy estimated in 2007 that a conversion to efficient lighting technologies such as compact fluorescent bulbs and LEDs could save as much as $18 billion worth of electricity and 158 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year in the United States alone. In response to concerns about the environmental impact of carbon emissions, policymakers have taken action to promote energy efficiency. For example, the ENERGY STAR® program and the European Union Code of Conduct encourage manufacturers of electronic devices to comply with voluntary energy-efficiency specifications. In 2007 the California Energy Commission (CEC) implemented mandatory efficiency standards for external power supplies. The CEC standards were implemented nationwide in the United States in July 2008 as a result of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA); these federal standards were tightened in 2016. Similar standards for external power supplies took effect in the European Union in 2010 as part of the EU’s EcoDesign Directive for Energy-Related Products. In 2010, the EU EcoDesign Directive implemented standards limiting standby power consumption on a wide range of electronic products. The limit was reduced by 50 percent beginning in 2013, with many products now limited to 500 milliwatts of standby usage; further tightening of the standards is under consideration. The EISA legislation also required substantial improvements in the efficiency of lighting technologies; the manufacture and sale of most incandescent bulbs has been illegal in the United States since 2014, while rules adopted in 2022 by the U.S. government are expected to result in the phase-out of additional categories of inefficient bulbs. Plans to eliminate incandescent bulbs have also been announced or enacted in other geographies such as Canada, Australia and Europe. In December 2019 the government of China published new efficiency standards for room air conditioners, which took effect in July 2020. In 2022 India’s Bureau of Energy Efficiency implemented new labeling standards for ceiling fans in an effort to drive adoption of BLDC motors in place of less efficient induction motors. We believe we offer products that enable manufacturers to meet or exceed these regulations, and all other such regulations of which we are aware. Since 1998, our AC-DC power-conversion ICs have featured our EcoSmart technology which drastically reduces standby power waste. We have sold more than 20 billion ICs featuring EcoSmart technology, resulting in estimated savings of more than 160 billion kilowatt-hours of standby power worldwide. In 2010 we expanded our portfolio of energy-saving products with the introduction of our CapZero and SenZero IC families, which eliminate additional sources of standby waste in some power supplies. We also offer a range of products designed specifically for LED-lighting applications. Our GaN technology, introduced in 2019, also dramatically improves the active-mode efficiency of power-supplies. Products Below is a brief description of our products: ● AC-DC power conversion products TOPSwitch, our first commercially successful product family, was introduced in 1994. Since that time we have introduced a wide range of products (such as our TinySwitch, LinkSwitch and Hiper families) to increase the level of integration and improve upon the functionality of the original TOPSwitch, and to broaden the range of power levels we can address. In 2010 we introduced our CapZero and SenZero families, which reduce standby power consumption in certain applications by eliminating waste caused by so-called bleed resistors and sense resistors. We have also introduced products designed specifically for LED-lighting applications, known as LYTSwitch ICs, as well as a range of high-performance, high-voltage diodes known as Qspeed diodes. In 2014 we introduced our InnoSwitch product family, the first power-supply ICs to combine primary, secondary and feedback circuits into a single package. These ICs employ a proprietary technology known as FluxLink to enable precise control without the need for optical components, which tend to add cost and diminish the reliability of power supplies. In 2019 we began offering InnoSwitch ICs with more-efficient GaN transistors rather than silicon transistors. In 2020 we introduced GaN-based MinE-CAP ICs, which enable the use of smaller input capacitors as a way to further reduce the size of a power supply. Our ClampZero ICs, introduced in 2021 alongside the GaN-based InnoSwitch4-CZ family of ICs, further enhance efficiency by recovering power losses associated with the high switching frequency of GaN transistors. This portfolio of power-conversion products generally addresses power supplies ranging from less than one watt of output up to approximately 500 watts of output, a market we refer to as the “low-power” market. This market consists 7 Table of Contents of an extremely broad range of applications including mobile-device chargers, consumer appliances, utility meters, LCD monitors, main and standby power supplies for desktop computers and TVs, and numerous other consumer and industrial applications, as well as LED lighting. We also now offer automotive-qualified versions of certain products, such as InnoSwitch ICs, for use in electric vehicles. ● High-voltage gate drivers We offer a range of high-voltage gate-driver products sold primarily under the SCALE and SCALE-2 product-family names. These products are fully assembled circuit boards incorporating multiple ICs, electrical isolation components and other circuitry. We offer both ready-to-operate “plug-and-play” drivers designed specifically for use with particular IGBT modules, as well as “driver cores,” which provide more basic driver functionality that customers can customize to their own specifications after purchase. In 2016 we introduced the SCALE-iDriver family of standalone ICs, which enables us to address applications ranging from a few kilowatts up to about 100 kilowatts, whereas previously our sales of high-power products were primarily for applications above 100 kilowatts. In 2020 we introduced an automotive-qualified version of SCALE-iDriver suitable for use in powertrain and charging applications for electric vehicles. ● Motor-driver products The BridgeSwitch family of products, introduced in 2018, is a family of motor-driver ICs addressing BLDC motor applications up to approximately 400 watts. Such applications include refrigerator compressors, ceiling fans, air purifiers as well as pumps, fans and blowers used in consumer appliances such as dishwashers and laundry machines. BridgeSwitch products are complemented by our Motor-Expert software, which provides configuration and diagnostic tools for design engineers. Other Product Information TOPSwitch, TinySwitch, LinkSwitch, DPA-Switch, EcoSmart, Hiper, Qspeed, InnoSwitch, BridgeSwitch, SCALE, SCALE-II, SCALE-III, SCALE-iDriver, PeakSwitch, CAPZero, SENZero, ChiPhy, FluxLink, CONCEPT, PI Expert and Motor-Expert are trademarks of Power Integrations, Inc. End Markets and Applications Our net revenues consist primarily of sales of the products described above. When evaluating our net revenues, we categorize our sales into the following four major end-market groupings: communications, computer, consumer, and industrial. The table below provides the approximate mix of our net sales by end market: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Year Ended December 31, End Market 2022 ​ 2021 ​ 2020 Communications ​ 21 % ​ 30 % ​ 30 % Computer 10 % ​ 10 % ​ 7 % Consumer 33 % ​ 32 % ​ 33 % Industrial 36 % ​ 28 % ​ 30 % ​ Our products are used in a vast range of power-conversion applications in the above-listed end-market categories. The following chart lists the most prominent applications for our products in each category. Market Category Primary Applications Communications ​ Mobile-phone chargers, adapters for routers, cordless phones, broadband modems, voice-over-IP phones, other network and telecom gear Computer ​ Desktop PCs and monitors, servers, adapters for tablets and notebook computers, other computer peripherals Consumer ​ Major and small appliances, air conditioners and other comfort appliances, TVs and set-top boxes, video-game consoles Industrial ​ Industrial controls, LED lighting, utility meters, motor controls, uninterruptible power supplies, battery-powered tools, networked thermostats, power strips and other “smart home” devices, industrial motor drives, renewable energy systems, electric locomotives, electric passenger cars and commercial vehicles, high-voltage DC transmission systems 8 Table of Contents Sales, Distribution and Marketing We sell our products to original equipment manufacturers, or OEMs, and merchant power-supply manufacturers through our direct sales staff and a worldwide network of independent sales representatives and distributors. We have sales offices in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, India, China, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Singapore and Taiwan. Direct sales to OEMs and merchant power supply manufacturers represented approximately 30%, 25% and 25% of our net product revenues in 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively, while sales to distributors accounted for the remainder in each of the corresponding years. Most of our distributors are entitled to return privileges based on revenues and are protected from price reductions affecting their inventories. Our distributors are not subject to minimum purchase requirements, and sales representatives and distributors can discontinue marketing our products at any time. Our sales are primarily made pursuant to standard purchase orders. The quantity of products purchased by our customers as well as shipment schedules are subject to revisions that reflect changes in both the customers’ requirements and in manufacturing availability. Historically, our business has been characterized by short-lead-time orders and quick delivery schedules. Our top ten customers, including distributors that resell to OEMs and merchant power supply manufacturers, accounted for approximately 76%, 78% and 62% of net revenues in 2022, 2021 and 2020, respectively. In 2022, 2021, and 2020 two customers, both distributors, each accounted for more than 10% of revenues. Research and Development Our research and development efforts are focused on improving our technologies, introducing new products to expand our addressable markets, reducing the costs of existing products, and improving the cost-effectiveness and functionality of our customers’ power converters. We have assembled teams of highly skilled engineers to meet our research and development goals. These engineers have expertise in high-voltage device structure and process technology, analog and digital IC design, system architecture and packaging. Intellectual Property and Other Proprietary Rights We use a combination of patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets and confidentiality procedures to protect our intellectual-property rights. In 2022 we received 26 U.S. and 35 foreign patents. As of December 31, 2022, we held 343 U.S. and 329 foreign patents. Both U.S. and foreign patents have expiration dates ranging from 2023 to 2042. While our patent portfolio as a whole is important to the success of our business, we are not materially dependent upon any single patent. We also hold trademarks in the U.S. and various other geographies including Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong, China, United Kingdom, Europe, Japan, India, Brazil and Russia. We regard as proprietary some equipment, processes, information and knowledge that we have developed and used in the design and manufacture of our products. Our trade secrets include a high-volume production process used in the manufacture of our high-voltage ICs. We attempt to protect our trade secrets and other proprietary information through non-disclosure agreements, proprietary-information agreements with employees and consultants, and other security measures. Manufacturing We contract with three foundries for the manufacture of the vast majority of our silicon wafers: (1) Lapis Semiconductor Co., Ltd., or Lapis, (formerly OKI Electric Industry), (2) Seiko Epson Corporation, or Epson and (3) X-FAB Semiconductor Foundries AG, or X-FAB. These contractors manufacture wafers using our proprietary high-voltage process technologies at fabrication facilities located in Japan, Germany and the United States. Our ICs are assembled, packaged and tested by independent subcontractors in China, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines; a small percentage of our ICs are tested at our headquarters facility in California. Our gate-driver boards are assembled and tested by independent subcontractors in Sri Lanka and Thailand; some of the boards are tested at our facility in Switzerland. Our fabless manufacturing model enables us to focus on our engineering and design strengths, minimize capital expenditures and still have access to high-volume manufacturing capacity. We utilize both proprietary and standard IC packages for assembly. Some of the materials used in our packages and certain aspects of the assembly process are specific to our products. We require our assembly manufacturers to use high-voltage molding compounds which are more difficult 9 Table of Contents to process than industry standard molding compounds. We work closely with our contractors on a continuous basis to maintain and improve our manufacturing processes. Our proprietary high-voltage processes do not require leading-edge geometries, which enables us to use our foundries’ older, lower-cost facilities for wafer manufacturing. However, because of our highly sensitive high-voltage process, we must interact closely with our foundries to achieve satisfactory yields. Our wafer supply agreements with Lapis, Epson and X-FAB expire in April 2028, December 2025 and December 2028, respectively. Under the terms of the Lapis and Epson agreements, each supplier has agreed to reserve a specified amount of production capacity and to sell wafers to us at fixed prices, which are subject to periodic review jointly by the supplier and us. In addition, Lapis and Epson require us to supply them with a rolling six-month forecast on a monthly basis. Our agreements with Lapis and Epson each provide for the purchase of wafers in U.S. dollars, with mutual sharing of the impact of the fluctuations in the exchange rate between the Japanese yen and the U.S. dollar. Under the terms of the X-FAB agreement, X-FAB has agreed to reserve a specified amount of production capacity and to sell wafers to us at fixed prices, which are subject to periodic review jointly by X-FAB and us. The agreement with X-FAB also requires us to supply them with rolling six-month forecasts on a monthly basis. Our purchases of wafers from X-FAB are denominated in U.S. dollars. Although some aspects of our relationships with Lapis, Epson and X-FAB are contractual, some important aspects of these relationships are not written in binding contracts and depend on the suppliers’ continued cooperation. We cannot assure that we will continue to work successfully with Lapis, Epson or X-FAB in the future, that they will continue to provide us with sufficient capacity at their foundries to meet our needs, or that any of them will not seek an early termination of their wafer supply agreement with us. Our operating results could suffer in the event of a supply disruption with one or more of our foundries if we were unable to quickly qualify alternative manufacturing sources for existing or new products or if these sources were unable to produce wafers with acceptable manufacturing yields. We typically receive shipments from our foundries approximately four to six weeks after placing orders, and lead times for new products can be substantially longer. To provide sufficient time for assembly, testing and finishing, we typically need to receive wafers four weeks before the desired ship date to our customers. As a result of these factors and the fact that customers’ orders can be placed with little advance notice, we have only a limited ability to react to fluctuations in demand for our products. We try to carry a substantial amount of wafer and finished-goods inventory to help offset these risks and to better serve our markets and meet customer demand. Competition Competing alternatives to our high-voltage ICs for the power-supply market include monolithic and hybrid ICs from companies such as STMicroelectronics, Infineon Technologies and Sanken Electric Company, as well as PWM-controller chips paired with discrete high-voltage silicon or GaN transistors; such controller chips are produced by a large number of vendors, including those listed above as well as such companies as NXP Semiconductors, Diodes Inc., On-Bright Electronics, MediaTek Inc., Southchip Semiconductor and Renesas Electronics. Our gate-driver products compete with alternatives from such companies as Broadcom, Infineon, Mitsubishi Electric, Fuji Electric, Semikron and Hangzhou Firstack Technology Co., as well as driver circuits made up of discrete devices. Our motor-driver ICs compete with power modules from such companies as ON Semiconductor, Infineon, STMicroelectronics, Mitsubishi and Sanken as well as discrete designs from a wide range of other suppliers. Generally, our products enable customers to design power converters with total bill-of-materials costs similar to those of competing alternatives. As a result, the value of our products is influenced by the prices of discrete components, which fluctuate in relation to market demand, raw-material prices and other factors, but have generally decreased over time. While we vary the pricing of our ICs in response to fluctuations in prices of alternative solutions, we also compete based on a variety of other factors. Most importantly, the highly integrated nature of our products enables designs that utilize fewer total components than comparable discrete designs or designs using other integrated or hybrid products. This enables power converters to be designed more quickly and manufactured more efficiently and reliably than competing designs. We also compete on the basis of product functionality such as safety features and energy-efficiency features and on the basis of the technical support we provide to our customers. This support includes hands-on design assistance as well as a range of design tools and documentation such as software and reference designs. We also believe that our record of product quality and history of delivering products to our customers on a timely basis serve as additional competitive advantages. 10 Table of Contents Warranty We generally warrant that our products will substantially conform to the published specifications for 12 months from the date of shipment. Under the terms and conditions of sale, our liability is limited generally to either a credit equal to the purchase price or replacement of the defective part. Human Capital As of December 31, 2022, we employed 831 full-time personnel across 14 countries with 370, or 45% of the total, residing in North America, while 55% resided offshore comprising 334 in the Asia-Pacific region and 127 across Europe. As of December 31, 2022, 6% of our worldwide employees were foreign nationals, defined as individuals requiring employment visas in the countries where they are employed. Women comprise approximately 26% of our total U.S. workforce and 33% of our non-technical U.S. workforce. The ethnic makeup of our U.S. workforce is approximately as follows: 63% Asian; 27% white; 6% Hispanic or Latino; 4% other. Innovation is the lifeblood of our company, and we depend on our people to sustain our competitive advantage. To attract and retain talented employees, we offer competitive compensation with generous comprehensive benefits for employees and dependents (including domestic partners). We offer health, dental and vision insurance, covering 86% of the cost of employee health insurance in 2022, flexible spending accounts for healthcare and child-care expenses, matching 401(k) contributions (at a rate of 50% of the employee contribution, up to a maximum of 4% of the employee’s eligible compensation), employee stock plans, paid vacation and family leave, life and disability insurance, flu vaccinations, tuition reimbursement, charitable gift matching, health-and-wellness programs designed to promote physical well-being and other mental health services. Approximately 99% of eligible U.S. employees participate in our 401(k) plan, and 68% of eligible employees participated in the most recent offering period of our employee stock purchase plan. These benefits, combined with our culture of innovation and sustainable growth, contribute to below-average employee turnover relative to our industry and an average tenure of nearly 7 years. In December 2022 we were certified by Great Place to Work® based on the results of an anonymous survey of employees, in which 82% of employees stated that Power Integrations is a great place to work. It is our policy to ensure equal employment opportunity for all applicants and employees without regard to prohibited considerations of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity and sexual orientation), national origin, age, disability or genetic information, marital status or any other classification protected by applicable local, state or federal laws. Our employees are encouraged to engage with company leadership and raise concerns and questions in person, via e-mail (anonymously if desired), or at our quarterly employee communications meeting with the CEO and senior management team. All employees receive training in the prevention of sexual harassment and abusive conduct in the workplace. We value our employees, giving them the tools and training to grow as individuals, and the freedom to take risks in the service of innovation. We offer tuition reimbursement for job-related education and provide live and online classes covering topics such as communication, leadership and management, software, and time management. We also offer catered lunch-time workshops on a range of personal-development topics such as financial planning, nutrition and stress management. Additional information regarding our commitment to our people can be found on our website at https://www.power.com/company/sustainability-citizenship/. Investor Information We make available, free of charge, copies of our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after filing this material electronically or otherwise furnishing it to the SEC. Investors may obtain free electronic copies or request paper copies of these reports via the “For Investors” section of our website, www.power.com . Our website address is provided solely for informational purposes. We do not intend, by this reference, that our website should be deemed to be part of this Annual Report. The reports we file with the SEC are also available at www.sec.gov . Our corporate governance guidelines, the charters of our board committees, and our code of business conduct and ethics, including ethics provisions that apply to our principal executive officer, principal financial officer, controller and senior financial officers, are also available via the investor website listed above. These items are also available in print to 11 Table of Contents any stockholder who requests them by calling (408) 414-9200. We intend to satisfy the disclosure requirements of Form 8-K regarding an amendment to, or a waiver from, a provision of our code of business conduct and ethics that applies to our principal executive officer, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer or controller, or persons performing similar functions by posting such information on our investor website listed above. Power Integrations, Inc. was incorporated in California on March 25, 1988, and reincorporated in Delaware in December 1997. Information About Our Executive Officers As of January 31, 2023, our executive officers, who were appointed by and serve at the discretion of our board of directors, were as follows: ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ Name Position With Power Integrations Age Balu Balakrishnan President, Chief Executive Officer and Director 68 Douglas Bailey Vice President, Marketing 56 Radu Barsan Vice President, Technology 70 Sunil Gupta Vice President, Operations 50 David “Mike” Matthews (1) Vice President, Product Development 58 Sandeep Nayyar Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer 63 Yang Chiah Yee Vice President, Worldwide Sales 56 Clifford Walker Vice President, Corporate Development 71 (1) On February 6, 2023, Mr. Matthews assumed a new role as Chief Technology Officer. See Part I, Item 9B in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. ​ Balu Balakrishnan has served as president and chief executive officer and as a director of Power Integrations since January 2002. He served as president and chief operating officer from April 2001 to January 2002. From January 2000 to April 2001, he was vice president of engineering and strategic marketing. From September 1997 to January 2000, he was vice president of engineering and new business development. From September 1994 to September 1997, Mr. Balakrishnan served as vice president of engineering and marketing. Prior to joining Power Integrations in 1989, Mr. Balakrishnan was employed by National Semiconductor Corporation. Douglas Bailey has served as our vice president of marketing since November 2004. From March 2001 to April 2004, he served as vice president of marketing at ChipX, a structured ASIC company. His earlier experience includes serving as business management and marketing consultant for Sapiential Prime, Inc., director of sales and business unit manager for 8x8, Inc., and serving in application engineering management for IIT, Inc. and design engineering roles with LSI Logic, Inmos, Ltd. and Marconi. Radu Barsan has served as our vice president of technology since January 2013, leading our foundry engineering, technology development and quality organizations. Prior to joining Power Integrations, Dr. Barsan served as chairman and CEO at Redfern Integrated Optics, Inc., a supplier of single frequency narrow linewidth lasers, modules, and subsystems, from 2001 to 2013. Previously, he served in a succession of engineering-management and technology development roles at Phaethon Communications, Inc., a photonics technology company, Cirrus Logic, Inc., a high-precision analog and digital signal processing company, Advanced Micro Devices, a semiconductor company, Cypress Semiconductor, Inc., a semiconductor company and Microelectronica a semiconductor company. Dr. Barsan has more than 40 years of commercial experience in semiconductor and photonic components development, engineering and operations. Sunil Gupta has served as our vice president of operations since August 2020. Prior to joining Power Integrations, Mr. Gupta was vice president of operations at Renesas Electronics Corporation, a provider of electronics solutions, from July 2017 until August 2020, in which position he was responsible for global operations for Intersil and IDT products as well as the integration into the operations of Renesas. Prior to joining Renesas he was Senior Vice President, Global Operations at Intersil Corporation, a developer of power management and precision analog integrated circuits, from June 2016 to July 2017, in which position he led the global operations and technology teams, and was Vice President, Quality and Technology Development at Intersil was from September 2013 to June 2016, in which position he led the quality, reliability, yield, process technology and package technology teams. Mr. Gupta joined Intersil in 2012 as its Vice President, Quality and Reliability. Prior to joining Intersil, Mr. Gupta was the Director of Worldwide Customer Quality 12 Table of Contents Engineering at Qualcomm, and prior to Qualcomm Mr. Gupta spent 16 years at National Semiconductor in wafer fab operations and quality. Mike Matthews has served as our vice president of product development since August 2012. Mr. Matthews joined Power Integrations in 1992, managing our European application engineering group and then our European sales organization as managing director of Power Integrations (Europe). He has led our product-definition team since 2000, serving as director of strategic marketing prior to assuming his current role. Prior to joining Power Integrations, Mr. Matthews worked at several electric motor-drive companies and then at Siliconix, a semiconductor company, as a motor-control applications specialist. Sandeep Nayyar has served as our vice president and chief financial officer since June 2010. Previously Mr. Nayyar served as vice president of finance at Applied Biosystems, Inc., a developer and manufacturer of life-sciences products, from 2002 to 2009. Mr. Nayyar was a member of the executive team with world-wide responsibilities for finance. From 1990 to 2001, Mr. Nayyar served in a succession of financial roles including vice president of finance at Quantum Corporation, a computer storage company. Mr. Nayyar also worked for five years in the public-accounting field at Ernst & Young LLP. Mr. Nayyar is a Certified Public Accountant, Chartered Accountant and has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Delhi, India. Since 2014, Mr. Nayyar has served as a director and audit-committee chairman of Smart Global Holdings, Inc., a manufacturer of specialty memory solutions; and was the lead independent director from 2021 to 2022. Yang Chiah Yee has served as our vice president, worldwide sales since June 2021. From March 2018 to June 2021, Mr. Yee served as senior vice president of worldwide sales at NeoPhotonics Corporation, a supplier of optoelectronic modules and subsystems for high-speed communication networks, where he was responsible for managing the worldwide sales and customer service organization, meeting with major clients, designing effective sales strategies and negotiating major contracts. From August 2016 to February 2017, Mr. Yee served as senior vice president of worldwide sales at IDEX Biometrics ASA, a supplier of fingerprint sensor solutions for payment cards, digital wallets and cyber authentication. From March 2008 to March 2016, Mr. Yee served in various senior sales roles at Atmel Corporation, a semiconductor designer and manufacturer of microcontroller and memory chips before its acquisition by Microhip Technology, Inc. Mr. Yee’s earlier experience includes senior sales roles at Xilinx Inc. and Memec LLC focusing on the Asia-Pacific region. Mr. Yee received a bachelor of engineering degree from Nanyang Technological Institute at the National University of Singapore, and holds a graduate diploma in marketing management from the Singapore Institute of Management. Clifford Walker has served as our vice president, corporate development since June 1995. From September 1994 to June 1995, Mr. Walker served as vice president of Reach Software Corporation, a software company. From December 1993 to September 1994, Mr. Walker served as president of Morgan Walker International, a consulting company.