SK Group will invest 700 billion won in the silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductor wafer business, with a view to becoming the number one participant in the world's high-tech materials market by 2025.
SK Inc., the holding company of the group, recently announced that it will invest 5.1 trillion won in high-tech materials by 2025. Among them, 700 billion won will be invested in SiC wafers. The company plans to invest another 300 billion won in GaN power semiconductors.
SK Inc. predicts that the sales of its SiC wafer business will reach 30 billion won in 2021, and plans to expand it to 500 billion won by 2025. Currently, the business is not profitable, but the goal is to achieve profitability in 2025.
Silicon carbide wafers are an indispensable part of power semiconductors for electric vehicles, 5G network equipment and solar generators. They are more resistant to high voltage and heat than silicon (Si) wafers, helping to make semiconductor chips smaller.
Silicon carbide semiconductors can withstand voltages 10 times higher than other semiconductors and operate at 400 degrees Celsius, while silicon semiconductors can withstand up to 175 degrees Celsius. Not only are they sturdy, but their size can be reduced to one-tenth that of silicon semiconductors. SK Siltron's SiC wafers reduced power loss by 77% and reduced weight and volume by 40%.
SK Inc. and SK Siltron are paying close attention to the silicon carbide power semiconductor market for electric vehicles. In 2018, Tesla installed STMicroelectronics' silicon carbide power chips into Model 3 for the first time in the automotive industry, creating the silicon carbide power semiconductor market. Since then, more than 20 car manufacturers have adopted SiC power semiconductors. SK Inc. predicts that by 2025, the adoption rate of silicon carbide semiconductors in electric vehicles will rise from the current 30% to more than 60%, and the silicon carbide wafer market is expected to expand from US$218 million in 2021 to 811 million in 2025. Dollar.
SK Inc. plans to increase the production capacity of SiC wafers from 30,000 in 2021 to 600,000 in 2025 to increase its global market share from 5% to 26%.
SK Group has selected silicon carbide wafers and power semiconductors as new growth drivers and has been investing heavily in them for many years. SK Siltron acquired the SiC wafer business unit from DuPont of the United States for USD 450 million in 2019 to enter the SiC wafer business. In January 2021, SK Inc. invested 26.8 billion won in Yes Power Technics, a South Korean company that produces SiC power semiconductors, and acquired a 33.6% stake in the company. In July, SK Siltron CSS, the US subsidiary of SK Siltron, decided to invest US$300 million in Michigan to expand SiC wafer production facilities. When all facilities are completed and ready to be put into use, SK Siltron's production capacity will increase 6 times. Including this 700 billion won investment, SK Group has invested at least 1.6 trillion won in SiC wafer technology and production alone.
Leading companies are also continuing to make large-scale investments. The No. 1 Cree has invested US$1 billion to build a 450,000 square meter silicon carbide wafer plant in New York State, USA since 2019. If the fab is put into production in 2022 as planned, Cree’s silicon carbide fab capacity will increase by more than 30 times compared with 2017.