The Wilech factory, completed three months ago, will make chips on wafers 300 mm thinner than a human hair, operating as a ‘megafab’ with the existing German plant in Dresden.
see photosInfineon has raised its revenue forecast from Villach from 1.8 billion to 2 billion euros
Germany’s Infineon on Friday opened a 1.6 billion euro ($1.9 billion) plant in Austria to ramp up capacity to supply power chips for cars, data centers and renewable energy. Infineon is adding capacity as the global semiconductor supply chain remains under extreme stress, with most major carmakers forced to idle production due to chip shortages.
The Wilech factory, completed three months ago, will make chips on wafers 300 mm thinner than a human hair, operating as a ‘megafab’ with the existing German plant in Dresden.
“Our timing could not be better in adding new capacity, given the growing demand for power management semiconductors,” said CEO Reinhard Ploss, ahead of an opening ceremony with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and EU Commissioner Thierry Breton.
Ploss said Infineon won’t deter buyers currently willing to pay astronomical prices, but it needs to defray investment costs to meet growing demand. “We expect significant price increases,” he told reporters.
“Our timing in adding new capacity could not be better, given the growing demand for power management semiconductors,” said CEO Reinhard Ploss.
Infineon has raised its forecast of revenue from Villach from 1.8 billion to 2 billion euros, reflecting a higher selling price rather than increased volume. The Dresden-Villach MegaFab could generate a combined revenue of 5 billion euros.
Munich-based Infineon, the auto industry’s leading supplier, has faced problems meeting delivery commitments after a winter storm in the United States and a coronavirus lockdown disrupted operations in Malaysia.
Additional production of specialist power chips in Villach will meet growing demand for electric vehicles, datacenters and wind and solar power facilities.
But it won’t immediately ease the wider semiconductor crunch, where Infineon is grappling with bottlenecks in the “back-end” facilities where chips are packaged into final products.
Ploss declined to draw on Infineon’s investment plans, saying that “now and then you’ll need a new factory” at its projected long-term growth in revenue of 9%.
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Operations chief Jochen Hanebeck said the high labor content in back-end production means Infineon will focus on low-cost centers such as Southeast Asia and Mexico where it already exists, rather than new European plants.
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