Bosch to acquire TSI Semiconductors for $1.5B to boost US chip production:
Bosch will acquire the assets of U.S. chipmaker TSI Semiconductors to expand its semiconductor business with silicon carbide chips (SiC), the German engineering and technology giant said Wednesday.
The acquisition includes a $1.5 billion investment over the next few years to upgrade TSI Semiconductors' manufacturing facilities in Roseville, California. Starting in 2026, the first chips will be produced on 200-millimeter wafers based on silicon carbide.
News of more chips being produced on U.S. soil is welcome in the automotive world, one of the industries most affected by the global semiconductor shortage that began with the COVID-19 pandemic. The shortage started when factories shut or slowed production due to lockdowns, thus disrupting global supply chains. A surge in demand for electronics as people stayed inside, as well as a boom in demand from an automotive industry determined to go electric and build smarter vehicles, only exacerbated the problem.
Electric vehicles on average use more chips than their gas-powered counterparts, and most new EVs hitting the market today promise advanced driver assistance systems and high-tech infotainment systems. As a result, in 2021, the average car had about 1,200 chips, twice the number in 2010, and a figure that will likely increase.
SiCs, which Bosch's new factory will produce, have been a hot commodity among automakers, as well. The company says the market for SiCs has grown by 30% a year on average, and that's in part because they offer greater range and more efficient recharging for EVs. They also lose up to 50% less energy, last longer and require less maintenance.
Bosch expects an average of 25 of its chips will be integrated in every new vehicle by 2025.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Thursday April 27, @12:09PM
Interesting side tangent: Bosch is pretty famous for pretty good automotive style air sensor chips; I had not looked into their relationship with power switching, which is what SiC is mostly used for. I don't know if they're pivoting out of sensors or expanding into power switching.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 27, @02:18PM
For battery electric cars, a big market for chips should be battery management. This includes state of charge, charge control, temperature (there are probably hot and cold spots in every pack design) and charge history. To really manage a pack might take a small processor on each cell, with hundreds or thousands of cells in each car.