Soitec opening direct sales operation in China

2019-03-18

Soitec of Bernin, near Grenoble, France, is opening a direct sales channel in China. Customers in China can now benefit from not only direct contact and support relationships with Soitec’s local team (which includes sales and technical support engineers) but also access to Soitec’s global technical expertise and network across engineered substrates, most notably its silicon-on-insulator (SOI) products, addressing the full range of applications for China’s growing electronics markets.

Recently announced as the first materials supplier to join the China Mobile 5G Innovation Center (an international alliance chartered to develop 5G communication solutions for China), Soitec says that it brings its long-standing worldwide partnerships across fabless semiconductor companies, foundries, system-level integrated device manufacturers (IDMs), research/innovation centers, universities and industry consortia. Both silicon and non-silicon engineered substrates are essential in bringing to mass deployment 5G mobile communications for applications including self-driving cars, industrial connectivity and virtual reality.

Soitec says that, in addition to direct access to a local sales and support team, it offers Chinese customers continued SOI wafer manufacturing, responsiveness and high-volume capacity readiness due to its historical partnership with Shanghai Simgui Technology Co Ltd. In February, Soitec and Simgui announced an enhanced partnership and increased annual production capacity of 200mm SOI wafers from 180,000 to 360,000 units at Simgui’s manufacturing facility in Shanghai, in order to better serve the growing global market for RF-SOI in mobile and power-SOI products. Simgui will focus on SOI wafer manufacturing and Soitec will now manage worldwide product sale of 200mm SOI wafers. Furthermore, Simgui’s fab has been qualified by multiple key customers inside and outside China.

“The value of SOI reaches far beyond the substrate level into device, system and final applications in the global value chain,” says Soitec’s CEO Paul Boudre. “To promote this value to Chinese customers as well as their downstream customers worldwide, Soitec will now support China with a comprehensive global team of experienced sales, marketing and business development professionals who are well connected to all major players in the global value chain.”

Soitec is presenting at SEMICON China 2019 (20-22 March) in Shanghai at the National Silicon Industry Group (booth Hall N5-5651).