Can BYD semiconductor realize the dream of IGBT lo

BYD semiconductor can realize the dream of IGBT localization

in April 2020, BYD announced that its subsidiary "Shenzhen BYD microelectronics" (officially renamed as "BYD semiconductor") has passed internal restructuring and plans to be listed

according to the announcement, BYD semiconductor received 100% equity of Ningbo BYD Semiconductor Co., Ltd. and Guangdong BYD Energy Saving Technology Co., Ltd., and acquired Huizhou BYD Industrial Co., Ltd. smart optoelectronics, LED light sources and LED application related businesses

subsequently, BYD semiconductor completed round a and round a+ financing in May and June, attracting 44 investment entities from 30 well-known investment institutions such as Sequoia Capital China fund, CICC capital and state investment innovation in just 42 days, with a total financing amount of 2.7 billion yuan. After two rounds of financing, the valuation of BYD semiconductor, which attaches importance to patents, rose from 7.5 billion to 30 billion

after more than 10 years of development, BYD semiconductor has become an independent and controllable vehicle specification level IGBT leading manufacturer in China, successfully breaking the foreign monopoly. How did BYD semiconductor, which accounts for 18% of China's car size IGBT market, grow

a "core thing"

BYD's chip making can be traced back to 2003, and it has launched the integrated circuit and power device development business through its sixth business division

however, BYD semiconductor did not achieve brilliant results in its early days. It was not until 2008 that Wang Chuanfu, under great pressure, acquired Zhongwei integrated circuit (Ningbo) Co., Ltd., a "mess" in the eyes of the market, with RMB 171million, and changed its name to Ningbo BYD Semiconductor Co., Ltd

why is Ningbo Zhongwei called a "mess"? Founded in 2002, this company was jointly invested by Taiwan Asia Pacific Technology and Damao electronics, with a registered capital of 100million yuan. It is mainly engaged in 6-inch chip manufacturing and services. It was once regarded as the hope of Zhejiang semiconductor industry

although it invested 249 million US dollars in several times, it introduced all the "antiques" of TSMC, which also laid a hidden danger for the subsequent bankruptcy. At that time, "first finance and economics" pointed out pointedly, "the direct reason why Zhongwei semiconductor did not reach production capacity came from equipment obstacles. When Zhongwei was founded, the equipment came from TSMC No. 1 factory, which was the base of TSMC when it was founded in 1987, and the service life of the equipment has been nearly 20 years. After the actual operation, there are often problems, and the machine failure has not been solved, resulting in the production capacity has been hovering at 10000 pieces/month, and the cash flow has been unable to reach balance."

in 2008, Ningbo Zhongwei was insolvent and declared bankrupt. Then he was "targeted" by Wang Chuanfu and spent a lot of money on the acquisition. At that time, the outside world was not optimistic about this transaction, and it was expected to lose 2billion yuan. But people who understand him said, "Wang Chuanfu wants to do the R & D and production of electric vehicle drive motors (mainly composed of drive chips and power management devices), and he wants to control the entire electric vehicle industry chain."

facts have proved that Wang Chuanfu is right. This acquisition decision has put BYD's IGBT product development and manufacturing on the right track

bet on "IGBT"

IGBT, as a representative product of the third technological revolution of power semiconductor devices, in recent years, with the rise of new energy vehicles, rail transit and other markets, the market scale is increasing day by day

compared with this (3) the mechanical properties of cast iron under tension and compression are compared, and the reasons for its failure are analyzed. At the same time, the problems also appear. In the domestic market, the production capacity of medium and high-end IGBT is seriously insufficient, and it has long relied on foreign manufacturers such as Infineon, Mitsubishi, Fuji, Anson semiconductor, resulting in "one core hard to find". Some insiders said that there are few domestic manufacturers that can really make IGBT chips. The ones that really do better are basically started from packaging. They have gained a firm foothold in the market by packaging and gradually develop chips one by one

considering only the vehicle specification level IGBT market, China Merchants Bank International predicts that China's IGBT market will reach 2.8 billion yuan in 2020 and 18.3 billion yuan by 2025

BYD semiconductor "targeted" this market early on and achieved excellent results. In 2019, BYD provided about 194000 sets of vehicle specification IGBT modules in China, with a market share of 18%, ranking second only to Infineon

in September 2009, with the support of policies and markets, BYD semiconductor's self-developed IGBT 1.0 chip successfully passed the scientific and technological achievements appraisal organized by the power electronics branch of China Electrical Industry Association, marking China's zero breakthrough in IGBT chip technology and breaking the technological monopoly of international giants

in 2012, IGBT 2.0 chip came out. Based on this chip, BYD successfully built a vehicle specification level IGBT module. In 2015, the chip was upgraded to version 2.5

in 2018, BYD semiconductor successfully developed a new vehicle specification level product IGBT 4.0 chip, which has become the benchmark of vehicle specification level IGBT. Compared with previous products, IGBT 4.0 products have greatly improved the electrical performance, and also improved the performance of electric vehicles, thereby reducing the power consumption of electric vehicles and increasing the endurance of electric vehicles

at present, BYD semiconductor's IGBT chip production is rising rapidly. The production capacity of IGBT chip wafers has reached 50000 pieces/month, and it is expected to reach 100000 pieces/month next year. It can supply 1.2 million new energy vehicles a year

at the same time, BYD semiconductor has also made a layout in terms of IGBT patents. In 2007, BYD filed its first IGBT patent application. As of May 8, 2020, there were 130 IGBT patent families disclosed by BYD in the dewant world patent database, including 231 patent records, of which 70% were in Chinese Mainland

since the establishment of the team in 2005, BYD semiconductor has been on this path for 15 years. At present, BYD semiconductor has gained a certain say in the domestic IGBT field, and has an integrated management whole industry chain including chip design, wafer manufacturing, packaging testing and downstream applications. Its main business covers the R & D, production and sales of power semiconductors, intelligent control ICs, intelligent sensors and optoelectronic semiconductors

however, compared with international IGBT giants such as Infineon, Mitsubishi and Fuji, there is a long way to go in terms of R & D capability and market share of the anti folding equipment installed. According to people familiar with the matter, on the basis of the existing external supply, BYD semiconductor's next plan is to strive for the external supply proportion of IGBT to exceed 50%

it is also expected that BYD semiconductor will have a more eye-catching performance after its split and listing, and contribute to the "China core"