Now, the monthly production capacity of silicon carbide (SiC) in San‘an, Hunan has climbed to 15000 pieces. Looking next door, the main body of our Phase II factory has been completed, and the overall planned 6-inch wafer production capacity of Phase I and Phase II is 500000 pieces, with a very broad application prospect. In May, Changsha, with the weather getting hotter and the smell of summer becoming stronger, is located at Hunan San‘an Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (referred to as "Hunan San‘an") on the south side of Yuelu Avenue, Lin Zhidong, Deputy General Manager of San‘an Optoelectronics, told Shanghai Securities News that due to the shortage of
silicon carbide products, the company is continuously and steadily advancing its expansion plan.http://www.ic-bom.com/
According to the reporter‘s research, the current supply of silicon carbide products is indeed in short supply, and vehicle grade components are continuously out of stock. Under the tight supply, large companies at home and abroad seek to sign long orders to become the "New Normal" of the industry. The latest case is that Infineon has signed long-term agreements with domestic silicon carbide companies Tianke Heda and Tianyue Advanced to obtain high-quality and competitive 6-inch silicon carbide wafers and ingots.
To achieve high-quality development in this industry, the core lies in the cost reduction and quality improvement of silicon carbide substrates. "Regarding how the silicon carbide industry can develop faster and on a larger scale, Lin Zhidong believes that compared to the development path of the silicon semiconductor industry, further cost reduction and quality improvement of silicon carbide substrates are the key to development; Referring to the experience of LED cost reduction and quality improvement, he believes that it is possible to achieve an annual cost reduction of 5% for silicon carbide substrates. As the cost of substrates decreases, the price of silicon carbide devices is expected to rapidly decrease, and more industrial grade new applications, including wind and solar storage, will drive the accelerated development of the silicon carbide industry.http://www.ic-bom.com/
Under the huge market gap, large companies at home and abroad seek to sign long orders to become the "New Normal" of the industry. In addition to the huge orders held by San‘an Optoelectronics, both Tianyue Advanced and Tianke Heda disclosed on their official website on May 3rd that they have signed a long-term agreement with Infineon to provide high-quality and competitive 6-inch silicon carbide substrates and crystal rods for the latter, and to assist in their transition to 8-inch silicon carbide wafers.
At the same time, facing potential development opportunities, silicon carbide companies are accelerating their "application" (vehicle level application). Lin Zhidong introduced that Sanan Optoelectronics currently has 7 products that have passed the vehicle certification and are gradually shipping, among which the in car charger (OBC) client is in the verification and import stage; The 1200V MOSFET chip of the car specification level has undergone module validation at strategic customers and is expected to be officially mass-produced in 2024. The progress of automotive grade silicon carbide products has also been disclosed in the 2022 annual reports of Star Semiconductor, Silan Micro, and CR Micro.
The demand for silicon carbide in wind and solar energy storage is also steadily increasing, "a person from the top domestic silicon carbide device manufacturers mentioned above told reporters that photovoltaic inverters have begun to use silicon carbide devices on a large scale. The high voltage resistance advantage of silicon carbide makes it have broad application prospects in the fields of wind energy and energy storage.http://www.ic-bom.com/
Driven by the demand in industries such as new energy vehicles and solar energy storage, the related businesses of silicon carbide companies are entering a period of rapid development.
San‘an Optoelectronics disclosed that due to the increase in downstream penetration rates such as optical storage and new energy vehicles, Hunan San‘an achieved sales of 639 million yuan in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 909.48%. Disclosure of Star Semiconductor.
Ye Xiaoming told reporters that if the cost of silicon carbide substrates is significantly reduced, leading to a decrease in the price of silicon carbide devices, it means that a large number of new energy vehicles can also use silicon carbide devices, and the market size of silicon carbide will further expand. A person from a leading domestic silicon carbide device manufacturer also told reporters that once the relevant trend is formed, the entire industry will enter a stage of great development. At present, it is a critical period for the development of the silicon carbide industry.
During this critical period, the leading enterprises of silicon carbide substrates are committed to reducing costs and increasing efficiency while significantly expanding production to seize market share. In addition to San‘an Optoelectronics, Tianyue Advanced, Luxiao Technology, and Dongni Electronics have all announced significant expansion plans, while companies such as Shuoko Crystal are also "catching up".
There are indeed many companies that have announced expansion of production, but there are not many actual effective production capacity (that can be implemented), and even fewer production capacity can be ‘put on board‘. It can be foreseen that silicon carbide products will be in short supply for at least the next 2 to 3 years, "an industry insider told reporters.http://www.ic-bom.com/
