The silicon carbide (SiC) sector has had its fair share of turmoil this year.
The largest player in the market, Wolfspeed, filed for bankruptcy citing weak demand in the automotive sector, specifically electric vehicles, and rising competition from Chinese rivals. This set off a chain reaction leading to vendors exiting the market and others filing for bankruptcy due to the same conditions.
Despite this, the market for SiC remains one that vendors are still investing in and that is evolving as it moves to a new phase.
Mitsubishi Electric has completed its 8-inch SiC wafer fab in Kikuchi, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan.
The facility is immediately entering the preparation phase with pilot production slated for November 2025. Full scale mass production is aimed at 2027 as Mitsubishi looks to expand its SiC portfolio.
The 42,000 square meter facility will focus on front-end SiC wafer processing including a fully automated production system.
Given the turmoil in the SiC market, Mitsubishi said it is adopting a more flexible and cautious capacity ramp strategy due to sluggish conditions in the EV market and price pressures from other vendors. As such, the company said some enhancement plans for the new fab will be deferred to fiscal 2031 and beyond.
Instead, the company will focus on production line installations based on market conditions.
India’s SiC fab
Another big SiC fab has started construction in Odisha, India, as part of SiCSem’s bid to create the country’s first end-to-end SiC semiconductor manufacturing facility.
SiCSem is targeting annual processing capacity of 60,000 SiC wafers and full-scale operations are expected to begin in 2027 or 2028.
The company said the goal is to reduce India’s dependence on foreign SiC supply chains for self-reliance in the EV and renewable energy sectors.
SK keyfoundry
Korean pure-play foundry, SK keyfoundry, is upping its SiC-based compound power semiconductor manufacturing technology with the acquisition of SK powertech, a maker of intellectual property (IP) core competencies in the SiC sector.
The 8-inch foundry has a range of process optimization technologies to improve yields by using its know-how in manufacturing from wafer fabrication to back-end operations.
The acquisition will give the company SiC processes and design technologies, allowing SK keyfoundry to establish SiC power semiconductor processes in its fab.
This includes the development of SiC MOSFET 1,200 V process technologies by the end of 2025 and launching a SiC-based foundry business in the first half of 2026.
Additionally, the company plans to expand its process technology to focus on high-voltage and high-efficiency applications like:
- Electric vehicle powertrain
- Industrial power converters
- Renewable energy inverters
Fallout of Wolfspeed bankruptcy
The move to expand its SiC offerings may stem from the turbulent turn the SiC market has taken recently in the semiconductor manufacturing market.
The SiC market had looked like a high-growth frontier in power-electronics and electric vehicles (EVs). Wolfspeed, once a dominant player, seemed to be well positioned to ride that wave — it held around 33.7% of the global SiC wafer market in 2024.
However, demand in key end markets (especially automotive/EVs) decelerated, and intensifying competition from Chinese SiC vendors significantly lowered wafer pricing, thus squeezing margins.
The Wolfspeed situation became a bellwether for broader market issues once it filed for bankruptcy. This triggered a chain reaction among SiC ecosystem partners like Japan’s Renesas Electronics, which exited the business.
Japan’s JS Foundry also filed for bankruptcy shortly after Wolfspeed citing pressure from Chinese rivals and lower EV sales.
