The Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area in China has attracted more semiconductor suppliers to expand in the country's South. A local automotive power semiconductor hub is arising as leading companies grow their investments.
Shenzhen and Guangzhou have been driving the growth of the new energy vehicle segment in Guangdong with the presence of companies like BYD and Xpeng. Upstream semiconductor suppliers also have set up operations in the area.
According to China's statistics, annual passenger car production capacity has reached 3.95 million vehicles in Guangdong, with NEVs surpassing 1 million cars. For a long time, China has only been able to self-supply less than 10% of power semiconductors, automotive memory, and other ICs. But things will change as companies started by semiconductor veterans emerge.
CanSemi Technology is one of the major foundries producing 12-inch wafers in the Great Bay Area besides SMIC. The company works closely with automakers and produces MCUs, DDIs, power ICs and other products.
CanSemi has begun mass-producing nearly 40,000 wafers in its first and second-phase production sites. According to its plan, the production will double when the third and fourth phases of the sites are ready. The third phase is supported by an investment of CNY15 billion (US$2.1 billion) and will focus on 180nm to 90nm processes for industrial and automotive products. The monthly production capacity is about 46,000 wafers.
The company is still planning the fourth phase of the site, which will produce analog ICs with an investment of CNY22 billion. The manufacturing process will be between 55 nm to 40 nm. The monthly production capacity is expected to be 40,000 wafers.
AscenPower is an emerging SiC semiconductor company based in Guangdong. Chairman Xiao Guowei said AscenPower has started mass-producing SiC products for automotive and industrial uses and sent samples to customers for verification. It has secured contracts with more than 10 customers.
AscenPower plans to invest CNY7.5 billion in building production lines that will make 240,000 6-inch and 8-inch SiC wafers, respectively, each year. It is expected to complete building a monthly production capacity of 10,000 SiC wafers by the end of 2023.
AccoPower, which focuses on SiC module design and packaging, is located right next to AscenPower. It has risen to be one of the top 3 SiC module suppliers in China after BYD and StarPower Semiconductor. In 2022, its SiC-MOSFET was used in the traction inverter on the vehicle model of Smart, a joint brand of Geely and Mercedes-Benz.
AccoPower has delivered close to 40,000 SiC modules for EV inverters. It completed a Series C funding round of several hundred million Chinese Yuan at the end of 2022 and was backed by Geely and Bosch.
According to industry sources, more SiC companies are arising and partnering with carmakers to grow their capital and production capacity. Car companies are closely tied to their upstream suppliers.
At the Nansha District in Guangdong, a NEV supply chain that covers SiC semiconductor manufacturing, SiC components and modules has been formed within only four years.
In the past, Guangdong fell behind in semiconductor production. Data showed that while the province contributes to 20% of the chip design in China, it accounts for less than 2% of chip manufacturing. The scale-up of automotive semiconductors in the Greater Bay Area is expected to turn the tables.
Article translated by Peng Chen
