Looking back on 2023, what progress has the silicon carbide and gallium nitride industry made, what changes have taken place, and what new opportunities and challenges will be ushered in in 2024?
In order to better interpret the industrial pattern and explore the future direction, the three and a half generations of experts and the Aurora Award jointly planned a special report on "Experts' Outlook - 2024, Full Firepower".
The guest of this issue is Zhou Yongchang, CEO of Feiwan Semiconductor. More leading companies will participate in the "Insider Lookout" in the future, so stay tuned.
Shipments exceeded 24 million units
Expand the application of on-board OBC and optical storage
Experts say three and a half generations: what achievements has your company made in 2023?
Zhou Yongchang: In 2023, our company has achieved good results in many aspects:
● The first is the shipment of silicon carbide devices.
As of 2023, more than 24 million 1200V silicon carbide devices have been shipped, which have been well received by customers in the new energy vehicle, consumer electronics and industrial markets. Compared with 2022, the revenue generated by SiC MOSFETs has increased from 17% to 50%, which shows the market's recognition of our products, and also promotes the continuous growth of the company's business and the improvement of its market position.
● The second is a breakthrough in the application of new energy OBC in the market
We have passed the customer's on-board verification and have been supplied to the leading enterprises of on-board power supply in batches. In terms of 11KW OBC, Feiquan Semiconductor's 1200V SiC MOSFETs have also been verified on the client side.
● The third is to further increase the market share of optical storage and charging.
In 2023, we will work closely with our customers to focus on the development needs of new PV storage inverters, and successfully develop and launch new SiC diodes that are more suitable for the needs of current PV storage users, which have passed the customer's verification and achieved large-scale production.
Feijuan Semiconductor's key work in 2023:
New products, vehicle specifications, markets, innovations
Experts say three and a half generations: to achieve these achievements, what key work has your company done?
Zhou Yongchang: In 2023, our silicon carbide business will mainly focus on product "internal skills" and market development.
● First, the third-generation silicon carbide MOSFET was launched, including a variety of mainstream specifications in the market, such as 1200V 14/18/30/40/80mΩ and 750V 11mΩ.
Compared with our previous generation, the new generation of SiC MOSFET products has better parameter consistency, lower switching losses, and better conduction characteristics, which can meet the high reliability and performance requirements of charging piles, photovoltaic & energy storage, automotive OBC/DCDC/main drive and other fields. With different gate drive resistors, our third-generation SiC MOSFETs have greatly improved reverse recovery losses as well as total switching losses.
● Second, it has achieved a breakthrough in vehicle-grade silicon carbide.
The 1200V 35/70/160mΩ and 650V 30/45/60mΩ automotive-grade SiC MOSFET devices independently developed by Feitai Semiconductor have successfully obtained AEC-Q101 automotive-grade reliability certification and passed the HV-H3TRB test, making Feiquan Semiconductor one of the few manufacturers in China whose SiC power discrete device products have passed the double assessment.
Among them, Feiquan Semiconductor's 1200V automotive-grade SiC MOSFET uses 18V/20V gate drive voltage, and 650V automotive-grade SiC MOSFET uses 15V gate drive voltage.
● Third, we are working with customers to develop silicon carbide modules to meet the needs of higher power and higher power density design.
● Fourth, greater breakthroughs have been made in market development.
Due to the successful launch of the new generation of SiC MOSFETs and automotive-grade SiC MOSFETs, we have established close partnerships with more leading companies in the fields of new energy, optical storage, and charging piles in 2023. By jointly promoting the application of silicon carbide technology in various fields, we have solved technical problems, shared resources and experience, accelerated the development and promotion of products, and achieved mutual benefit and win-win results.
● Fifth, technological innovation.
As of 2023, we continue to carry out technological innovation and product research and development in the field of silicon carbide, and have accumulated rich technology and experience, obtained more than 40 independent research and development patents, and more than 50 patents are pending.
Experts say three and a half generations: can you talk about your company's strategy and planning for automotive silicon carbide?
Zhou Yongchang: We have reached preliminary cooperation with leading companies in the field of new energy vehicles, and successfully provided automotive-grade silicon carbide MOSFET products to many customers for verification, and we are also actively expanding cooperation with other automotive customers to strive for more market share.
However, in terms of business rhythm, we at Feiquan Semiconductor do not pursue to get on the car too quickly, because we believe that the current SiC power devices are still facing some challenges and blockages, and domestic silicon carbide companies need to further overcome them.
First of all, silicon carbide should ensure the yield and reliability of the design process.
The most critical in silicon carbide devices is the drift of threshold voltage (Vth) and gate oxygen reliability, which are the core parameters to evaluate the reliability level of silicon carbide MOSFETs.
Secondly, the product must pass the basic guarantee of AEC-Q101 to ensure that the product meets the stringent requirements of the automotive industry. Feiquan Semiconductor focuses on quality management and reliability assurance. We strictly implement the quality management system of international standards and have passed ISO 9001 certification and IATF16949 audit. By establishing a reliable product supply chain and strict quality control process, we are able to ensure the consistency and reliability of our products and provide stable product quality to our customers.
In short, we will continue to work to overcome these challenges, continuously improve the reliability and performance of our products, and make efforts to realize the ability of domestic SiC chips to be put on the car.
5 major strategies to deal with the involution of the industry
3 strategies to enhance the leading position
Experts say three and a half generations: cost is a double-edged sword, the large-scale development of the industry needs to be close to the low cost of silicon devices, but also to prevent being eaten by low prices, how do you view the low price and homogeneous competition in the industry?
Zhou Yongchang: China's silicon carbide market is undergoing changes, and competition is becoming increasingly fierce, with companies constantly reducing costs to compete for market share. In the face of the current "volume" market, we also believe that the industry "non-competition does not develop". We will respond in five areas.
● On the one hand, we need to strengthen the coordination of the domestic industrial chain to achieve price competitiveness. To this end, in terms of epitaxy and substrates, we select domestic and foreign substrate raw material suppliers to establish stable and close cooperative relations to ensure the stable and efficient operation of the supply chain.
● On the other hand, we need to enhance the chip reliability advantage and delivery advantage. To this end, in terms of chip manufacturing, we have cooperated with the wafer foundry Jita Semiconductor, which is the first foundry in China to mass-produce 6-inch silicon carbide devices, and realize the production and high-quality delivery of products through their manufacturing capabilities and resources.
● Third, we need to give full play to the advantages of resources and experience. We also firmly believe that in the current market environment, we have our own core competitiveness. Since 2015, Feiquan Semiconductor began to develop silicon carbide products, and has accumulated many years of experience in this industry, has a certain volume of stable customers, the market has been booming in the past two years, our business model has also been recognized and supported by many downstream users, in the previous industry cycle, our product supply can always be completed with quality and quantity, is a reliable partner for downstream customers.
● Fourth, on the basis of maintaining the original market share and stable growth, we will increase investment in the new application market. Especially in the fields of optical storage, new energy vehicles and industrial automation, we will be customer-centric, pay close attention to market trends and customer needs, and strengthen technology research and development and innovation, by providing customized silicon carbide solutions, we will meet the needs of different industries and expand market share.
● Fifth, we will strengthen cooperation in the international market. The SiC device market is global, and various countries are actively promoting its development. We can learn from foreign experience and technology, establish partnerships with international enterprises, learn from each other and develop together. Through international cooperation, we can broaden market channels and improve the competitiveness and influence of our products.
Experts say three and a half generations: What plans and goals have your company set in 2024?
Zhou Yongchang: 2024 is a critical year for Feidian Semiconductor, and we will further consolidate and expand our leading position in the silicon carbide market through three strategic directions to achieve sustainable growth and comprehensive business development.
● On the one hand, further expand the application market of SiC MOSFETs.
Although our SiC MOSFETs have achieved significant growth in 2023, there is still a lot of potential for development, so we will continue to work closely with our partners to expand the application of SiC MOSFETs in new energy, optical storage, charging piles, and other fields.
● On the other hand, we will focus on the automotive field.
In 2023, our SiC MOSFETs have obtained automotive certification, and launched 6.6kW OBC, 11kW OBC, 2-3kW automotive DCDC and other application solutions, and related products have been commercialized and mass-produced, and will be gradually supplied in batches.
In 2024, we plan to cooperate with more automakers to further expand the application scope of SiC MOSFETs and provide efficient and reliable solutions for key components such as power electronics and charging systems for electric vehicles.
● Third, continue to expand the "circle of friends" of SiC diodes.
We will focus on industrial automation, power transmission, photovoltaic and other high-power, high-voltage and high-current application markets, work closely with customers, through continuous improvement of product performance and quality, provide reliable products and technical support, to meet the needs of different industries for high-performance SiC diodes, to provide customers with the best solutions for practical applications.