Cree has signed a multi-year $250 million agreement to produce and supply its Wolfspeed 150-mm silicon-carbide (SiC) bare and epitaxial wafers to STMicroelectronics. The supply agreement is for ST’s silicon-carbide products in the broad automotive and industrial markets.
Jean-Marc Chery, president and CEO of STMicroelectronics, said that ST is the only semiconductor company with automotive-grade silicon carbide in mass production today and that the company wants to press forward to grow its SiC business both in terms of volume and breadth of applications served. As ST had previously stated during an earnings announcement, its aim is to take the lead in a market estimated to be worth more than $3 billion in 2025.
“This agreement with Cree will improve our flexibility, sustain our ambition and plans, and contribute to boosting the pervasion of SiC in automotive and industrial applications," Chery said.
This is the third multi-year agreement that Cree has signed in the past year for its 150-mm silicon-carbide wafers. In February 2018, it announced a $100 million long-term supply agreement for its SiC wafers to Infineon Technologies for product lines including photovoltaic inverters, robotics, charging infrastructure, industrial power supplies, traction, and variable speed drives.
In October 2018, it announced an $85M long-term agreement to produce and supply its SiC wafers to an unnamed “leading power device company.”