As China’s Chip industry advances, Europe’s big Three are panicking – Fast Turn Chip

Europe is one of the highly developed regions in the global semiconductor industry, which has a strong semiconductor heritage. In the past decades, Europe has experienced a lot of integration, merger, reorganization, bankruptcy, etc. Up to now, the semiconductor industry in Europe is mostly concentrated in the hands of the three giants Infineon, stmicroelectronics and NXP. To become the European semiconductor industry in parallel with the troika. From history to the future, Europe has a very important role in the global integrated circuit industry.

The chief executives of stmicroelectronics, Infineon and NXP said they had no plans to stop operations in the world’s second-largest economy, despite complying with certain restrictions imposed by Washington on China’s semiconductor industry.

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Market position Situation

In the power semiconductor segment, Infineon is the world’s No. 1 power semiconductor vendor and ST is No. 3, according to omdia. In the more segmsegmed SiC market, ST is number one in terms of revenue, with $4.5 billion in 2021, followed by Infineon with $2.48 billion.

Currently, ST has three major divisions, namely Automotive and Discrete Division (ADG), Analog, MEMS and Sensors (AMS), Microcontroller and Digital Integrated Circuit Group (MDG). These three departments under the product, ST are full of advantages. ST’s development of SiC dates back to 1996, when ST collaborated with the University of Catania to develop SiC. By 2021, ST’s SiC device business will have revenues of $450 million, making it number one in revenue. In addition to power devices, compared with NXP and Infineon, ST is more prominent in the sensor business. ST is the world’s first TOF sensor supplier, and ST’s microcontroller, especially the STM32 series, is also a household name.

Infineon has four business divisions: Automotive Electronics (ATV), Industrial Power Control (IPC), Power Management and Diversified Markets (PSS), and Digital Security Solutions (CSS). The core business of automotive electronics is power semiconductors, MCU, sensors and memory chips. Infineon ranks first in the automotive power semiconductor market. IPC department mainly includes IGBT chips and modules and IPM (intelligent power module) products. Infineon has a strong position in the IGBT field, and both IGBT chips and IGBT modules rank first. Infineon is also a leader in areas such as security chips and power management.

In terms of MCU, according to the statistics of IC insights, NXP ranks first in MCU revenue, ST ranks fourth, and Infineon ranks fifth, with a total of 47.3% of MCU market share. NXP mainly consists of automotive, industrial &IoT, mobile, communication & infrastructure four business units. Around four divisions, NXP’s product range covers a range of products including MCU, radar, wireless products, gateways, RF devices and sensors, including radar.

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A new plan for the future

Both ST and Infineon, which focus on power semiconductors, have seen significant growth over the past two years, and the SiC market is still booming. According to Yole, the SiC device market is expected to grow from a $1 billion business in 2021 to more than $6 billion. The next few years will be a test of their vertical integration capabilities. Moreover, in view of the high cost and low production challenges of SiC itself, increasing the size of wafers is a major direction of the industry’s efforts, so expanding the factory to 300mm is an important next step for them.

ST is transforming the global manufacturing business and currently operates a 300mm fab in Crolles, France, and a 300mm fab in Agrate, Italy. On October 5, ST announced that it will build a €730 million (US $728 million) 6-inch silicon carbide substrate manufacturing plant in Agrate, Italy, taking an important step in its vertical integration strategy. The project will be the first silicon carbide epitaxial substrate manufacturing plant in Europe, with production expected to begin in the second half of 2023. The investment in the new SIC substrate plant will help achieve ST’s target of sourcing 40% of its substrate in-house by 2024.

Infineon also plans to continue expanding its 300mm wafer manufacturing capacity in the future. Infineon’s initial silicon carbide ramp in Ferach, Austria, is expected to generate 1 billion euros in revenue by 2025. The company will focus on two forward projects in the future: a wideband gap dedicated fab in Kulim with an investment of over 2 billion euros. In addition, Infineon plans to invest a total of 5 billion euros to expand its fabs in Dresden, the largest single investment in Infineon’s history, with production expected to start in autumn 2026.

Infineon aims to capture 30% of the silicon carbide component market by 2025. Where does this confidence come from? In the Infineon FY2022Q4 results briefing minutes, Infineon said that the company’s success in SiC development factors include: a, the company has sufficient basic materials, and proprietary laser-based coal cracking technology, which helps increase productivity, increase production and reduce costs; Second, the company’s choice of trench architecture, compared to the plane, provides higher performance, the number of chips per wafer increased by 30%, also increased productivity; Third, the company’s series of packaging technology, can meet all relevant voltage and power levels of different customer needs; Fourth, decades of experience in automotive and industrial power.

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With the development of new energy vehicles in the direction of electrification and intelligence, NXP is conducting in-depth cooperation with automobile manufacturers, organically combining various products of the company and becoming an electrification domain system-level solution supplier. In particular, it is working with Chinese local automobile manufacturers to jointly define the needs, develop new products and jointly meet the new needs of electrification development.

About Electronic Components Distributor FAST TURN CHIP

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