[News] Overview of Progress Among 33 Global SiC Manufacturers

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In the current global silicon carbide (SiC) market, 8-inch wafers have undoubtedly become one of the hottest topics. TrendForce believes that while processing costs increase when upgrading from 6-inch to 8-inch SiC substrates, the resulting increase in chip output is significant. An 8-inch wafer can produce approximately 1.8 times the number of chips compared to a 6-inch SiC wafer, making the transition to 8-inch a viable way to reduce SiC device costs.

In recent years, driven by the rapid development of new energy vehicles, photovoltaic energy storage and charging, and other industries, the market size of SiC power devices has been expanding year by year and will maintain rapid growth. TrendForce’s latest 2024 Global SiC Power Device Market Analysis Report shows that SiC is accelerating its penetration in application markets such as automotive and renewable energy, where power density and efficiency are paramount.

The overall market demand will maintain growth momentum in the next few years, with the global SiC power device market size expected to reach 9.17 billion USD (approximately 64.8 billion RMB) by 2028.

With the economies of scale brought about by the large-scale adoption of SiC in various application scenarios, cost reduction will become increasingly important for manufacturers and the entire industry. 8-inch SiC is precisely designed for cost reduction and efficiency enhancement. In this context, upstream and downstream manufacturers in the SiC industry chain, including materials (substrate/epitaxy), chips/modules, and equipment manufacturers, are all focusing on 8-inch SiC, driving rapid development in this area.

Materials: Chinese Players Challenge International Giants

As the upstream source of the SiC industry chain, material performance and yield determine whether midstream devices and downstream applications can meet market demand. Therefore, many SiC manufacturers in China and abroad are accelerating R&D and expansion in the 8-inch SiC material segment.

Some international manufacturers have a first-mover advantage in the SiC field and are moving quickly in the transition to 8-inch. Currently, international manufacturers such as Wolfspeed, ROHM, Coherent, Soitec, Sumitomo Metal, Resonac, and NGK Insulators have all made positive progress in 8-inch SiC substrates/epitaxy.

China’s SiC industry started relatively late and still lags behind international advanced levels. However, driven by the demand from end applications such as new energy vehicles, photovoltaic energy storage and charging, rail transit, and industry, Chinese SiC manufacturers are accelerating their efforts to catch up with international giants. Especially in the substrate/epitaxy segment, local companies are now competing head-to-head with internationally renowned manufacturers.

Devices: International Giants Near Commercialization, Chinese Manufacturers Accelerate Catch-Up

In the device segment, Chinese manufacturers generally lag behind their international counterparts. Currently, STMicroelectronics, Infineon, and Onsemi are accelerating their commercialization efforts, while some Chinese manufacturers are stepping up their efforts to catch up.

Equipment: International Giants Continue Shipments, Chinese Companies Blossom

Chinese manufacturers are seeing positive developments in 8-inch SiC equipment. While international manufacturers like Aixtron continue to secure orders and deliver, Chinese SiC equipment manufacturers are making continuous breakthroughs in technology R&D and market expansion.

Large-Scale 8-Inch Applications Still Need Time

From the material perspective, many domestic and international SiC manufacturers have successfully produced 8-inch substrates, and some even have mass production capabilities or have shipped small batches. While it may seem that the 8-inch era has arrived, this is not entirely the case.

TrendForce’s research data shows that the current market share of 8-inch products is less than 2% and predicts that it will grow to around 20% by 2027. This means that 8-inch SiC products still need time to gain market and user acceptance and gradually replace 6-inch products as the new industry standard

 
(Photo credit: Wolfspeed)