News

25 February 2009

 

Tankeblue cuts SiC substrate prices by 60%

Tankeblue Semiconductors Co Ltd of Beijing, China, which manufactures silicon carbide (SiC) wafers based on technology from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Physics, is cutting the prices of its 2-inch conductive n-type 6H-SiC and 4H-SiC wafers by 60% to $150 and $250 each, respectively.

Tankeblue expects its new pricing strategy to speed the development of SiC-based devices such as LEDs, Schottky diodes, converters used in hybrid automobiles, etc. In addition, the firm's semi-insulating SiC wafers (for fabricating power devices) will be launched on the market in the near future.

The SiC wafer market is forecast to reach about $400m by 2012, with 3-inch, 4-inch and larger SiC wafers being mainstream products, according to a 2008 survey by Yole Developpement. The main substrate makers (Cree and II-VI Inc in the USA, SiCrystal and Norstel in Europe, Tankeblue and Nippon Steel in Asia) have been striving to improve crystal quality and increase size. Cree has a dominant market share of 60-70%. However, the technical gap between Cree and its rivals is said to be gradually narrowing. Also, although a variety of SiC-based devices has been developed in recent decades, substrate price is still a barrier for the widespread adoption of SiC-based devices.

Search: SiC substrates

Visit: www.tankeblue.com/index_en.html