Tim Moore, the chief product officer at Pulsiv, a Frontier IP Group PLC (AIM:FIPP) portfolio company, talks about the opportunity for its new 65-watt USB-C reference design charger.
Tim Moore: At Pulsiv, we've been working on developing groundbreaking technology to improve the efficiency of power conversion.
In the last few months, we've taken that technology and created an end-to-end reference design, which allows people to build very efficient and cool-running 65-watt USB-C products.
We're targeting these for in-socket applications or in-desk, in-furniture-type applications where efficiency and cool operation are critical for safety.
Proactive: Take us through the benefits. Obviously, efficiency is one of the big benefits, but what are some of the other advantages, like cost and reliability?
Tim Moore: Efficiency is key, but the main benefit is that the system runs cool, at a low temperature.
This not only ensures safety but also increases the system's robustness and reliability.
Components like electrolytic capacitors are sensitive to high temperatures, which can reduce their lifespan.
Our system, by running cooler, helps these components last much longer—10 or 20 years instead of just a couple.
Additionally, our technology eliminates inrush currents, which are those large surges of current when you first plug in a power supply.
This can cause damage over time, but our design avoids that completely, making the system much kinder to the circuitry and more reliable overall.
Proactive: Tell us about the market opportunity you're seeing here, particularly as the EU brings in new regulations from December, making USB-C connectors a mandatory standard.
Tim Moore: With the new standard coming into play, it's a great opportunity.
This means that not just companies in the tablet and mobile phone space but also domestic appliance companies can start using this connector as a standard way of powering their products.
We believe there's a massive growth market here.
For instance, with fast charging becoming more popular—especially with companies like Apple pushing it—we'll likely see consumers expecting faster charging times for all cordless products, not just mobile phones.
This will drive the demand for high-power USB-C power supplies, like our 65-watt charger, and even more so as we move toward 240W products.
Proactive: Outside of USB-C, does Pulsiv's technology have other applications?
Tim Moore: Absolutely. Our technology is all about efficient AC-to-DC conversion, and it also works the other way around—DC to AC.
We're active in solar and power generation projects and have a very exciting concept coming online, which we'll be talking about more in the next couple of months.