"Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily" (Shanghai, researcher Zheng Yuanfang) reported that today, Hon Hai and Macronix jointly held a signing ceremony. Hon Hai acquired Macronix Hsinchu 6-inch wafer for NT$2.52 billion (approximately RMB 587 million). The property rights transfer of the round factory buildings and equipment is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
Hon Hai Chairman Liu Yangwei said that company plans to use the factory to develop and produce third-generation semiconductors, especially silicon carbide (SiC) power components used in electric vehicles. This is also an important milestone in Hon Hai’s “3+3” strategy of integrating electric vehicles and semiconductors.
Hon Hai, which is committed to transforming from "labor-intensive" to "brain-intensive", has long regarded emerging industries such as new energy vehicles and semiconductors as key directions for development. In April this year, Liu Yangwei said that in addition to the Macronix 6-inch factory, Hon Hai is also interested in the 8-inch factory and plans to actively deploy special process chips and SiC.
The rise of SiC New energy vehicles have become the largest source of growth
With the rapid development of electric vehicles, smart cars, and 5G, the third generation of semiconductors represented by gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC) is rapidly rising. Among them, SiC has the characteristics of high saturation speed and extremely high thermal conductivity. Power devices made from it have excellent performance and are mainly used in downstream industries such as new energy vehicles and smart grids. HIS data shows that the SiC power device market size will reach US$3 billion in 2025.
In terms of new energy vehicles, SiC devices can effectively extend the driving range, shorten charging time, and increase battery capacity. The rapid development of the downstream market has also become the largest source of incremental demand for SiC. Currently, Tesla Model 3 is equipped with SiC inverter; BYD expects to completely replace SiC-based automotive power semiconductors in its electric vehicles by 2023; Infineon also launched SiC automotive power modules in May. Zhang Xin, an analyst at Zhongtai Securities, predicts that SiC in the automotive field is expected to enter the first year of heavy volume in 2021.
Similar to the first generation of semiconductor silicon wafers, SiC wafers are also developing towards large sizes, improving the utilization rate and production efficiency of SiC wafers downstream. Currently, 6-inch SiC substrates have been commercialized in the global market, and major mainstream manufacturers are also launching 8-inch samples. On July 27, STMicroelectronics announced that it had manufactured the first batch of 8-inch SiC wafers.
At this stage, the penetration bottleneck of SiC is mainly the high cost. However, according to CASA statistics, SiC prices have dropped rapidly in recent years, falling by more than 50% in 2020 compared with 2017. In the future, as the quality of 6-inch substrates and epitaxial wafers improves, and 8-inch production lines achieve large-scale production, the cost reduction effect is expected to appear, promoting the popularization of SiC devices and modules.
The mountain of cost has not yet been crossed, and SiC also has to face the river of production capacity. Although manufacturers have made efforts to expand production, Dongxing Securities analysts Wu Hao and Chen Yuzhe pointed out that due to the development of the downstream market exceeding expectations, the commercial supply of existing domestic products cannot meet demand, and there is a large gap in SiC power electronics and radio frequency. The supply side has become an important constraint for silicon carbide, and the stable production capacity brought by technological advantages will be an important competitiveness for manufacturers.
Among domestic SiC-related manufacturers:
Luxiao Technology and Sanan Optoelectronics have deployed SiC substrates;
Star Semiconductor announced in March that it will increase its car-grade SIC module production line;
BYD Semiconductor, Wingtech Technology, China Resources Micro, etc. Also engaged in SiC devices.
