How does SiC “save” price-cutting car companies?

04. New technologies can be used to reduce the usage and cost of SiC chips for electric drives.

The price of SiC  power electronic devices has further dropped, and the price difference with similar Si devices has narrowed.

According to CASA and Mouser, judging from public quotations, the average price of 650V SiC SBD at the end of 2020 was 1.58 yuan/A, a year-on-year decrease of 13.2%, and the price difference with Si devices was approximately 3.8 times; the average price of 1200V SiC SBD was 3.83 yuan/A, year-on-year. It dropped by 8.6%, which is about 4.5 times the gap with Si devices.

According to CASA research, the actual transaction price is lower than the public quotation. The actual transaction price of 650V SiC SBD is about 0.7 yuan/A, and the price of 1200V SiC SBD is about 1.2 yuan/A, which is about 60%-70% of the public quotation, and has dropped by 20% year-on-year. %-30%, the difference between the actual transaction price and the price of Si devices has narrowed to between 2-2.5 times, which has reached the sweet point. According to this trend, the price of SiC will drop again in the future.

According to market news, the domestic mainstream 6-inch silicon carbide (SiC) substrate quotations are based on the international market price of 750-800 US dollars per piece, and they are falling rapidly, with the price falling by almost 30%. Some supply chain practitioners even said that due to the large number of domestic SiC crystal growth and substrate players, if the first-tier manufacturers take the lead in launching the price reduction model, they may force the second- and third-tier manufacturers to passively follow up, and the silicon carbide substrate price war will begin. The industry holds different views on the claims that first-tier SiC manufacturers have launched a "price war" and SiC substrate prices have dropped by nearly 30%.

As the SiC production capacity of major domestic manufacturers increases, the price of SiC substrates has been in a slow downward range, with an average annual decrease of around 5%-10%. For example, at this stage, domestic 6-inch SiC substrates are around 4,000 yuan/piece to 5,000 yuan/piece. It is expected that the price will further drop by 2025, and is expected to drop to 4,000 yuan/piece.

Malicious price cuts are not in line with the current industry development rules. For new entrants in the silicon carbide industry, there are two factors restricting the development of the industry at this stage. One is that production capacity cannot keep up; the other is that the yield rate cannot be improved. This also causes small and medium-sized manufacturers to face competition from leading manufacturers. , in exchange for market share through price reduction; on the contrary, for silicon carbide head silicon carbide upstream manufacturers that have access to global major customers such as Infineon and Bosch , stable product performance and batch supply capabilities are the only way to gain a foothold in the market Rather than “clearing out” market followers through price cuts.

As technology advances and costs decrease, the application of SiC substrates will become more and more widespread, which will help promote the rapid development of downstream applications. When SiC substrate production capacity increases, significant price reductions are possible.