The extraordinary rise of the global silicon carbide market (SIC) market is undoubtedly eye -catching. As early as 2017, when it was equipped with Tesla Model 3, the transformation of power semiconductor applications from silicon to SIC was opened.In 2019, chip manufacturer Wolfspeed chose the NANOCENTER factory near the Marcy New York State State State will build the world's first 200mm SIC factory in the world in the United States. The factory was completed in April 2022.
    Since then, the American SIC gold rush heat has become a global investment boom, and the main driving force is the increase in demand for electric vehicles (electric vehicles).Although silicon carbide is obviously a key technology for the future of semiconductor, as it enters powerelectronicMainstream, is it facing the risk of becoming a product soon?
    In this article, Stephen Rothrock, the founder and executive officer of Atreg, the president and founder of Yole Group Jean-Christophe ELOY, and Yole Intelligence technology and market analyst of Yole Group, Poshun Chiu overview the all over all overlook the all. The ball SIC market and their revolutionaryForecast of technology in the future.
    Creating market growth
    According to the 2023 version of the power SIC report released by Yole Intelligence, it is expected that by 2028, the global power SIC device market will increase to nearly 9 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 31%over 2022.Automobile applications occupy the dominant position in the SIC market, accounting for 70%.By 2022, the power SIC market and various industrial applications, including transportation, energy and telecommunications.
    Stephen Rothrolk said that at 25 years, ATREG has never seen any new technologies developed so quickly in the 25 years.Although our industry is currently experiencing downturn, we have witnessed the strong growth of SIC.With the help of SIC power devices, major IDM manufacturers in the world have seen growth opportunities.
    According to Yole Intelligence, in the past few years, Italian semiconductor has been leading in SIC device income.The company's revenue in 2022 was about $ 700 million, and the current revenue is currently expected to be $ 1.2 billion.With the global leading Electronics -leading company Ying Feiling Technology, the company's revenue has increased significantly in the past two years.
    wolfspeed, onSemi, Rohm, and Bosch are considered manufacturers to achieve income growth.As of 2023, the leading company has implemented the IDM business model to speed up the market time of this rapidly growing and rich profit SIC device business.Jean-Christophe Eloy went on to say.
Studies of     Yole Intelligence also show that 150 mm SIC wafers are the main platforms for device manufacturing, and there are no 8 -inch wafers in the open market.For the current or planned 200mm SIC wafer factory, the main IDM is using different procurement strategies based on its status in the semiconductor ecosystem.Wolfspeed is currently a company dedicated to improving its 200mm SIC output of Mohot Valley in New York State.Other manufacturers are expanding the capacity of 150mm wafers inside and developing 200mm wafers at the same time.
    For companies that do not intend to turn to 8 -inch, the common method is to purchase 150mm sic wafers multiple times, Chiu pointed out.In 2021, ONSEMI acquired SIC Wiles GT Advanced Technology (GTAT), while ROHM acquired SiCRYSTAL in 2009.However, we know that these companies are also purchasing 150mm SIC wafers in large quantities from external wafer suppliers.He added.
    In 2019, Italian semiconductor acquired SIC wafer Norstel to develop internal wafer capacity.At the same time, the company cooperates with Soitec to develop engineeringSubstrateAnd cooperate with Sanan Optoelectronics to set up a $ 3.2 billion joint venture to supply an 8 -inch SIC wafer.Yingfei Technology and Mitsubishi Electric focus on the processing of device processing of the 200mm SIC platform, and use 200mm wafers from external suppliers.
    On August 31, Bosch announced the completion of the acquisition of the 200mm wafer factory operated by TSI Semiconductors in Rosville, California. This transaction was promoted by ATREG.After the reorganization stage began in 2026, the factory will begin producing the first batch of SIC chips on 200 mm wafers.It is a huge victory to attract one of European manufacturers to the United States (the manufacturer's only front -end chip in Germany) for the US semiconductor industry, because Bosch plans to invest $ 1.5 billion in the Roseville Factory in the next few years.
    Although relatively late in the power SIC device market, ONSEMI's 2023 quarterly performance shows that the company is expected to achieve a $ 1 billion in ambitious income in 2023.As a SIC device supplier of Tesla and other car original equipment manufacturers, the company's income is largely due to the in -depth participation of electric vehicles.As part of the next ten years announced in the field of SIC, which announced in the next ten years, Coherent has accelerated the expansion plan of SIC substrates and extension of SIC and extension in Sweden and the United States.Ten thousand pieces of 2027 are equivalent to a substrate of 150mm, of which 200mm has invested in mass production.
    in Europe, Wolfspeed cooperated with ZF to build an advanced 200mm SIC factory in Ensopov, Germany, investing in $ 3 billion to support the huge transformation of the German automotive industry.ZF has signed a years of supply agreement with silicon carbide device with Italian semiconductor, while Italian semiconductor has obtained 292.5 euros from the European Commission for the construction of a wafer plant in Catnia, Sicily.
    in Asia, Yingfeeling announced plans to build a 200mm siliconic silicon power factory in the construction of the world in July, Malaysia, which may achieve 7 billion euros in revenue at the end of this decade.In addition, Ruisa Electronics also cooperates with Wolfspeed to implement wafer supply protocols and pays a $ 2 billion deposit to ensure that Wolfspeed has made 10 years of SIC nude and extensive wafer supply commitments.
    Global Investment Competition
    Global chip manufacturers are highly concerned about the size changes of SIC substrates.As Wolfspeed first launched 8 -inch production capacity, other suppliers also actively followed up and actively sought to cooperate with the main participants in the upstream and downstream of the global supply chain to occupy a favorable position in the market.With the release of a large number of investment announcements, the global production capacity of the wafer level is growing rapidly.
    At present, 80% of the global SIC substrates are produced in the United States, which makes the country a leading position in this key technology and hopes to retain this position as long as possible.According to our calculations so far, we estimate that the total investment in the global SIC wafer plant is close to $ 14 billion, and this is just the beginning.
    With the new John Palmour Material Factory in North Carolina, Wolfspeed will increase its current SIC capacity by 10 times, and capital expenditure accounts for 100%.These numbers are shocking.
    change in the focus of supply chain
The research of     Yole Intelligence emphasized the focus of the SIC supply chain bottleneck.Large -scale capacity expansion does not simply mean excess supply.
    Poshun Chiu, a technology and market analyst of Yole Intelligence under YOLE Group, pointed out that in 2022, SIC wafers will have a large -scale expansion than demand.Today's data tells a different story -people's interest in using SIC devices is becoming increasingly strong, which has triggered the expansion of the capacity of wafers and devices.
    Since electric vehicles have always been the main driving force of the SIC market, the shortage of SIC wafers in 2021 and 2022 leads to limited opportunities for many non -automotive applications to obtain SIC wafers.The expansion of SIC wafer production capacity will be put into operation in 2023 to promote the growth of the SIC device market.Used for  MOSFETSIC wafers of   SIC wafers of car applications will be less affected by cost optimization.However, low -quality players will need to reduce prices to obtain the remaining utilization rate.We expected silicon carbidediodeThe price of grade wafers will be more eroded.In the short term, the eight inches will be mainly retained for internal use.
    So with the pushing time, will silicon carbide a victim of its own success?We can be with blue  LED  Sapphire comparison, the average price may decline, ELOY said.At that time, as Chinese manufacturers increased significantly in mid -2010, the price of sapphire fell sharply.Due to the accessability of competitive prices and equipment, it accelerates the infiltration of LEDs in the field of display and lighting.For SIC, the ecosystem will require the difference in demand/supply and quality.
    While we are waiting for the new fabal factory funded by the new Chips Act, ATREG expects more traditional 200mm and manufacturing assets with compound semiconductor capabilities will be converted into a large number of SIC manufacturing facilities in the next few months.To make up for the short -term gap.Rothrock summarizes the ability to be in the medium term.I think it can be said fairly that silicon carbide will still have a bright prospect in the future.