Semiconductor manufacturer Nexperia revealed its growth strategy for 2021. The Nijmegen-based company plans to increase spending into R&D and to invest in itself to enhance global manufacturing capacity. The new investments are in line with Nexperia’s parent company Wingtech Technology, which last year poured more than 1.5 billion euros into building a new 300 mm power semiconductor wafer fab in Lingang, Shanghai. The new factory is set to go live in 2022 and is capable of an annual estimated output of 400,000 wafers.
Nexperia’s plans for this year include improving production efficiency and implementing new 200 mm technologies at its European wafer fabs in Hamburg, Germany and Manchester, UK. In Hamburg, there will also be an additional investment in new technology for wide-bandgap semiconductor manufacturing. New product development will also be supported with a commitment to an increased R&D investment to approximately 9 percent of total sales. Nexperia recently opened new global R&D centers in Penang, Malaysia, and Shanghai, China, and expanded the existing R&D sites in Hong Kong, Hamburg and Manchester. The company will also enhance test and assembly capabilities at Nexperia factories in Guangdong, China, Seremban, Malaysia, and Cabuyao, Philippines, including the implementation of advanced automation and system-in-package (SIP) capabilities.
“Increased vehicle electrification, 5G communications, Industry 4.0 and the mainstream adoption of GaN-based designs will all drive increased demand for power semiconductors in 2021 and beyond,” says Nexperia COO Achim Kempe. “Nexperia is already the largest manufacturer of semiconductors by units shipped – more than 90 billion annually. The additional global investment will ensure that we continue to provide the technology and manufacturing capacity needed to deliver products in volumes that support future demand.”