Several companies specializing in 8-inch wafer system semiconductor production are rapidly expanding their production capacity. According to market research firm Trend Force's announcement on October 14th, in recent years, 14 major 8-inch semiconductor companies worldwide have invested in adding production lines, and these investments are gradually translating into actual production growth.

Prior to this, including STMicroelectronics (ST), ON Semiconductor, Infineon Wolfspeed、 Several global system semiconductor companies, including ROHM, Bosch, Fuji Electric, Mitsubishi Electric, Pioneer International Semiconductor, Silan Microelectronics, and UNT, have announced plans to build 8-inch wafer fabs. These wafer fabs are located in multiple regions including Europe, America, and Asia.

Among them, STMicroelectronics announced on May 31 that it will invest 5 billion euros to build an 8-inch wafer fab in Catania, Italy, with an expected weekly production capacity of 15000 wafers, and plans to achieve mass production in 2026. Meanwhile, ST We are also collaborating with Sanan Optoelectronics to build another 8-inch wafer fab in Chongqing, China, which is expected to start production in the fourth quarter of next year.

Anson Semiconductor expanded its SiC wafer factory in Tomikawa City last year and plans to shift to producing 8-inch wafers from next year, increasing production capacity to 10 times the current level.

Germany's Infineon opened a new 8-inch wafer fab in Kulin, Malaysia on August 8th. In addition, some companies have upgraded their existing 6-inch wafer fabs to 8-inch wafers, such as ROHM's new wafer fab in Chikugo City, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, which plans to complete the production transition from 6-inch to 8-inch by 2025. This upgrade increases the number of chips produced each time, thereby reducing production costs.

Bosch is also producing 8-inch silicon carbide wafers at its 6-inch factory in Reutlingen, Germany, and has announced plans to add an 8-inch SiC wafer production line at its Roswell factory in the United States, expected to be completed by 2026.

It is worth noting that System Semiconductor has only recently increased its investment in production facilities due to the increased supply shortage in the early stages of the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020 and 2021. For example, South Korea's leading 8-inch semiconductor company DB HiTek announced on October 11th that it will invest approximately 250 billion Korean won to expand the cleanroom of its Shangyu factory as a preemptive response to future market growth. DB HiTek The system semiconductor company predicts demand and expands production capacity, which can be seen as a positive signal that the market will continue to grow in the future.