News: Microelectronics
22 April 2026
Bosch sampling third-generation SiC chips to global automakers
Germany-based Bosch Group has started to introduce third-generation silicon carbide (SiC) chips and is supplying samples to global automakers.
Bosch says it uses unique manufacturing expertise to make its chips both smaller and more powerful. The company adapted its etching process, which has existed since 1994 (widely known as the ‘Bosch process’). Originally developed for sensors, this process enables the manufacture of high-precision vertical structures in silicon carbide. This design greatly increases the chips’ power density – a decisive factor for the third generation’s superior performance.
“Our next-generation chips deliver 20% higher performance and are also significantly smaller than the previous generation,” says Markus Heyn, member of the Bosch board of management & chairman of the Bosch Mobility business sector. “This miniaturization is the key to greater cost efficiency, as we can produce many more chips per wafer. That means we’re playing a key role in making high-performance electronics more widely available.” Bosch has already delivered more than 60 million SiC chips worldwide since the first generation went into production in 2021.
Billions invested in global manufacturing network
In recent years, Bosch has pushed ahead with its development work for SiC chips and at the same time increased its manufacturing and cleanroom capacity. The firm has invested about €3bn in semiconductors as part of Europe’s IPCEI (Important Projects of Common European Interest) funding programs for microelectronics and communication technology. Its wafer fab in Reutlingen, Germany, develops and manufactures the third-generation SiC chips on 200mm wafers.
At the beginning of 2025, Bosch acquired a second fab for SiC chip manufacturing in Roseville, California, and is currently equipping it for production. The firm is investing an additional €1.9bn in the US plant, which will manufacture and deliver its first SiC chips this year – initially as samples for customer trials.
“In the future, Bosch will supply its innovative SiC chips from these two fabs in Germany and the US,” Heyn says. This will make for more robust and resilient supply chains in the rapidly growing electrification of the automotive industry,” he adds. In the medium term, Bosch intends to expand its manufacturing capacity for SiC power semiconductors to a unit volume running into the mid-nine figure range.
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