Bosch has revealed it will be investing €400 million into expanding its chipmaking fabs in Europe and Asia throughout 2022 to help tackle the ongoing semiconductor shortage.
Bosch Reutlingen chip fab. Credit: Bosch
A chip wafer fab at Bosch's Reutlingen plant; this facility is expected to receive roughly €50 million in funding. Credit: Bosch
The news comes just weeks after the engineering company after opening a new chip plant in Dresden, with plans to increase capital expenditure to increase capacity at this plant, alongside existing facilities in Reutlingen, as well as its operations in Penang, Malaysia.
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“Demand for chips is continuing to grow at breakneck speed", said Volkmar Denner, Bosch's chairman of the board. " In light of current developments, we are systematically expanding our semiconductor production so we can provide our customers with the best possible support".
Most of the new funding has been earmarked for Bosch's Dresden facility, which is set to manufacture 300-millimetre wafers, set for significant upscaling in 2022, with the Reutlingen plant expected to receive around €50 million, with an additional €100 million expected for cleanroom investments by 2023.
In total, the Dresden facility should come to around 11,500 square metres.
“Our aim is to ramp up production of chips in Dresden earlier than planned and at the same time expand clean-room capacity in Reutlingen. Every additional chip we produce will help in the current situation", Bosch board member Harald Kroeger said.
“We’ve already expanded our manufacturing capacity for 200-millimetre wafers by some 10%", he added.
In addition, Bosch is set to be developing a semiconductor test centre from scratch in Penang. The facility is expected to be highly automated and is set to commence operations in 2023.
In total, Bosch has more than 100,000 square meters of land available on Penang’s mainland strip, which will be developed in stages.
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The facility could also help Bosch gain a foothold in new semiconductor manufacturing technologies in the future, such as silicon carbide semiconductors in Reutlingen.
It also expects that new facilities in Asia will shorten delivery times and distances for the chips.
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