ON Semiconductor acquires Qorvo silicon carbide business for $115 million.
The news on December 11 has drawn the attention of the semiconductor industry. According to the recent announcement by Onsemi, it has reached an agreement with Qorvo to acquire its silicon carbide junction field-effect transistor (SiC JFET) technology business and its subsidiary United Silicon Carbide for $115 million in cash.
Onsemi stated that this acquisition will complement its extensive EliteSiC power product portfolio, enabling it to meet the demands for high energy efficiency and high power density in the AC-DC segment of artificial intelligence (AI) data center power supplies. It will also accelerate its deployment in emerging markets such as electric vehicle circuit breakers and solid-state circuit breakers (SSCB). The specific on-resistance per unit area of SiC JFET is extremely low, less than half of that of any other technology, and it supports off-the-shelf drivers commonly used for silicon-based transistors. The combined advantages are significant and can provide obvious value for power supply designers and data center operators. "As AI workloads become increasingly complex and power-hungry, reliable SiC JFETs that can provide high energy efficiency and handle high voltages will be more and more important." Said Simon Keeton, President and General Manager of Onsemi's Power Solutions Group. "With the addition of Qorvo's industry-leading SiC JFET technology, our intelligent power product portfolio will offer customers one more option to optimize energy consumption and increase power density."
Three years ago, Qorvo acquired United Silicon Carbide. At that time, Qorvo claimed that this acquisition expanded its business scope into rapidly growing markets such as electric vehicles (EV), industrial power control, renewable energy, and data center power systems. The product portfolio of United Silicon Carbide covers more than 80 types of SiC FET, JFET, and Schottky diode devices. Its fourth-generation SiC FET, based on a cascode configuration, has a rated voltage of 750V and an RDS(on) of 5.9mΩ, reaching an industry-leading level and being crucial for many industries.
Relevant personnel of Qorvo once analyzed the market impact of this acquisition. David Briggs, Senior Director of Programmable Power at Qorvo, and Chris Dries, former President and CEO of United Silicon Carbide and current General Manager of Qorvo's Power Device Solutions, said that the acquisition of Active-Semi triggered an interest in the power electronics field, and the goal was to achieve a diversification strategy by leveraging UnitedSiC's compound semiconductor manufacturing. SiC FET, JFET, and other devices have their characteristic advantages and are suitable for various power electronics applications, such as traction drives and chargers in electric vehicles.
SiC is competing with IGBT and developing rapidly, with gradually decreasing costs. Having a good supply chain is important. UnitedSiC has about five different qualified supply chains. Reference design solutions are also crucial and can accelerate the adoption of SiC by designers. After the UnitedSiC solution is incorporated into Qorvo's product portfolio, it will cover emerging energy-related market applications, emphasizing the continuous building of the business to accelerate the adoption of SiC and improve the efficiency of powertrain solutions.
In the context of the rapid transformation of the semiconductor industry, the SiC business deal between Onsemi and Qorvo has become the focus. ICGOODFIND closely follow the industry trends. Onsemi's acquisition of Qorvo's SiC JFET technology business aims to improve its own product portfolio and expand the market. SiC devices have superior performance and application potential in multiple fields. Industry competition and supply chain and other factors also affect its development. This provides a reference example for semiconductor enterprises in terms of technical cooperation, market expansion, and strategic layout, prompting the industry to deeply consider how to grasp the opportunities of SiC, enhance competitiveness, and promote industrial progress.
