To increase their focus on automotive power semiconductors, Toshiba and Geely each announced new plans

Currently, with the accelerated development of smart cars and new energy vehicles, automotive power semiconductors have become one of the competition tracks for major manufacturers. Recently, companies such as Toshiba and Geely have announced new investment plans.

Toshiba builds new factory to expand power semiconductor production capacity

On December 19, local time, Toshiba Electronic Components and Storage Corporation ("Toshiba") announced that it will build a new power semiconductor back-end production facility at its Himeji Semiconductor Factory in Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan.

According to official disclosures, construction of the project will start in June 2024 and is scheduled to be put into production in the spring of 2025. The project will more than double Toshiba's automotive power semiconductor production capacity in Himeji compared with fiscal 2022.

Power devices are an important part of managing various electronic equipment, reducing power consumption and saving energy. On top of that, demand for Toshiba's key technology, low-voltage MOSFETs (metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors), is expected to continue to grow as vehicle electrification and industrial equipment automation progress. Toshiba has decided to meet this increase in demand by building new back-end facilities.

Geely 's silicon carbide company completes Pre-A round of financing

On December 15, Zhejiang Jingneng Microelectronics Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Jingneng Microelectronics"), a subsidiary of Geely Technology Group, announced the completion of Pre-A round of financing, led by Walden International, Jiayu Capital, Gaorong Capital, Wo Feng Industrial and other institutions followed the investment.

It is reported that this round of financing is mainly used for research and development investment, production line construction and technical team building of power semiconductor modules. Pan Yunbin, CEO of Jingneng Microelectronics, said that a number of products will start to be installed on cars next year.

Information shows that Jingneng Microelectronics was established in 2022 with a registered capital of 10 million yuan. The company uses inverter power modules as the entry point and develops automotive-grade IGBTs through the combined capabilities of "chip design + module manufacturing + automotive certification" Chips and modules, SiC devices, medium and low voltage MOSFETs and other products serve "dual carbon" industrial scenarios such as new energy vehicles, electric motorcycles, photovoltaics, and energy storage.