By Li Panpan
Several 6-inch semiconductor production line projects have been launched in China this year driven by production capacity shortage and promising SiC market, JW Insights reported.
Huaer Technology(华尔科技) announced in May that it would build a 6-inch wafer production line in Mianyang in southwestern Sichuan Province.
The city government of Hangzhou in eastern China’s Zhejiang Province approved in April a 6-inch semiconductor production line with an investment of RMB2.8 billion ($417.74 million) to produce VDMOS, MEMS, IGBT, and other power device products.
In the same month, a 6-inch silicon-based foundry project started in Nanjing in eastern China’s Jiangsu Province.
With an investment of RMB1.4 billion ($208.87 million), Kuanneng Semiconductor(宽能半导体) started producing 6-inch chips and power devices in January in Yangzhou also of eastern China’s Jiangsu Province.
Han Xiaomin, general manager of JW Insights’ Consulting Business, said that investment in second-hand 6-inch lines are driven by profits with tight production capacity, especially for the power semiconductor market, but they are not a good choice for long-term investment value.
In February, Jiejie Microelectronics(捷捷微电) said it will have a production capacity of one million 6-inch wafers and 10 billion power semiconductors after its 6-inch packaging and testing production line is put into operation, contributing to relief tight MOSFET supply.
Zhao Yi, director of JW Insights’ Research Business, said that although the shortage of consumer-grade MOSFETs has eased in the short term, the demand for high-end power in the fields of industrial control and new energy vehicles and photovoltaic inverters is still strong. With a sizeable overall market size in the consumer field, power semiconductors will still be in short-term supply and demand imbalances.
Therefore, 6-inch manufacturers are making profits driven by market demands, although the 6-inch production line has not taken the lead in this round of global production expansion, said the JW Insights report.
Han Xiaomin added that, in addition to the factor of tight production capacity, another important reason for the 6-inch production line is to deploy third-generation semiconductors. Many 6-inch third-generation semiconductor production lines in China have been converted from 6-inch silicon-based production lines.
On May 27, Zhenhua Technology(振华科技) said it would build a 6-inch silicon-based/silicon carbide-based power device manufacturing line to enhance its core competitiveness.
UNICMICRO(广芯微电子) capped its 6-inch high-end featured silicon-based wafer foundry project on May 31, which can achieve an annual production capacity equivalent to 2.4 million 6-inch silicon-based power semiconductor wafers and 36,000 third-generation semiconductor silicon carbide wafers. It will have an annual output value of RMB3 billion ($447.28 million) when put into production.
Most 6-inch SiC wafers are produced on traditional 6-inch wafer lines, sharing most of the equipment, according to Zhu Hangou, a JW Insights analyst.
The third-generation semiconductor has attracted great enthusiasm from Chinese manufacturers and investors. JW Insights data shows that newly signed third-generation semiconductor projects have numbered more than 60 in more than 40 cities in China since 2017, with a total investment of over RMB200 billion ($29.82 billion). However, only less than 30% of them are put into production.
Leading silicon carbide manufacturers in China are mainly enterprises that have been deeply involved in the field for a long time. They need to grasp the technological transition trend from 6 inches to 8 inches and still need to work hard in the industry, said the JW Insights report.
