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MACOM Technology Solutions Holdings, Inc. announced the completion of its acquisition of the radio frequency business of Wolfspeed, Inc. on December 2, 2023. The RF Business is highly complementary to MACOM’s portfolio and creates a compelling combined technology solution.
“We are excited to welcome the RF Business team to MACOM,” said Stephen G. Daly, President, Chief Executive Officer and Chair. “Going forward, we are committed to supporting all product and foundry customers and building upon the RF Business’ established technology to strengthen our leadership position.”
Original – MACOM Technology Solutions
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The Wolfspeed WolfPACK power module family is designed to give engineers choice and flexibility when working on power electronics applications greater than 10 kW.
In addition to half-bridge and six-pack topologies, WolfPACK modules are now available in full-bridge configurations—all with the option for pre-applied Honeywell™ PTM6000 Series TIM.
Selecting pre-applied TIM can reduce assembly cost and complexity, while improving reliability and performance. Compared to standard grease solutions, WolfPACK modules with pre-applied TIM can reduce the junction temperature by 40°C under the same conditions or increase current capability by 60% due to the reduction in thermal resistance.
All WolfPACK modules are designed to provide clean, reliable power for energy conversion systems. By leveraging more than 35 years of vertically integrated industry experience, Wolfspeed ensures that these modules offer low losses in a package that lends itself to fast design implementation, scalability, long term design support, and lower assembly overhead.
Original – Wolfspeed
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Wolfspeed, Inc. announced its results for the first quarter of fiscal 2024.
Quarterly Financial Highlights (Continuing operations only. All comparisons are to the first quarter of fiscal 2023)
- Consolidated revenue of $197.4 million, compared to $189.4 million
◦ Mohawk Valley Fab contributed $4.0 million in revenue
- Device design-ins of $2.2 billion and quarterly record of over $1 billion in device design-wins
- GAAP gross margin of 12.5%, compared to 35.7%
- Non-GAAP gross margin of 15.6%, compared to 38.8%
◦ GAAP and non-GAAP gross margins for the first quarter of fiscal 2024 include the impact of $34.4 million of underutilization costs, representing approximately 1,740 basis points of gross margin.
“We kicked off our fiscal year with a strong quarter in both execution and market share. Not only have we continued to win in the marketplace, as evidenced by our third highest quarter of design-ins and a record quarter of design-wins, we have clear focus on the ramp of our Mohawk Valley Fab,” said Wolfspeed CEO, Gregg Lowe. “At Mohawk Valley, we have an outstanding operations team in place, Building 10 on our Durham campus is producing enough 200mm wafers ahead of the needs of Mohawk Valley, and we already have enough qualified product to satisfy our 20 percent utilization goals.”
Lowe continued, “We remain steadfast in our long-term vision for the future of this industry. The market opportunity for silicon carbide stands at $6 billion today, up from $400 million just five years ago. This further validates our strategy to invest now to capitalize on the immense opportunities at-hand, and the significant opportunity in the future.
We have amassed significant materials expertise over the decades, which combined with the capacity of our new materials factory in Siler City, will increase our wafer production by 10x when fully operational, and creates significant competitive advantages over our peers and new entrants. We will be better positioned to support our customers’ needs going forward and cater to a whole host of new applications for silicon carbide technology.
As the only pure-play silicon carbide company in the market today, we believe that we are best positioned to capitalize on a decades long tailwind that represents a $20 billion addressable market by 2030.”
As previously announced, on August 22, 2023, Wolfspeed entered into a definitive agreement to sell its RF product line to MACOM Technology Solutions Holdings, Inc. (MACOM) for approximately $75 million in cash, subject to a customary purchase price adjustment, and 711,528 shares of MACOM common stock, valued at $50 million based on the 30 trading day trailing average closing price for MACOM’s common stock through August 21, 2023. Wolfspeed expects to close the transaction by the end of calendar 2023.
Original – Wolfspeed
- Consolidated revenue of $197.4 million, compared to $189.4 million
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Wolfspeed, Inc. announced that Thomas Werner, a board member since 2006, has been elected the new Chairman of the Board, effective immediately. Werner succeeds Darren Jackson, who stepped down as chair after five years in the role. Jackson will continue to serve as a member of the Wolfspeed Board. In addition, Board Member Stacy Smith will replace John Replogle as the Chair of the Governance and Nominations Committee.
“Wolfspeed is thrilled to welcome Tom as our new Board Chair,” said Gregg Lowe, Wolfspeed President & CEO. “Tom is a proven innovator with vast experience in the energy and semiconductor industries, and will provide invaluable leadership as we further scale our operations to meet the growing demand for silicon carbide power devices.”“It is my honor to serve as Wolfspeed’s Board Chair, and help Wolfspeed as it leads the transition from silicon to silicon carbide,” said Werner. “Wolfspeed is on the cusp of truly changing the power electronics industry, and I am excited to be a part of that transformation.”
Werner is a distinguished industry leader with more than 25 years of experience in semiconductor, disruptive technology and energy organizations. Werner previously served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors for SunPower Corporation, a publicly traded manufacturer and marketer of high-efficiency solar cells and solar panels, after serving as the Chief Executive Officer of SunPower for 18 years.
Smith is the Executive Chairman of Kioxia Corporation (formerly Toshiba Memory Corporation), a leading flash memory company, and Non-Executive Chair of the Board at Autodesk, Inc., a global leader in design and make technology. Prior to his Board positions, Mr. Smith worked at Intel Corporation for three decades in a variety of roles including as Group President of Sales, Manufacturing and Operations, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Information Officer, and Head of Europe Middle East and Africa.
Original – Wolfspeed
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MACOM Technology Solutions Holdings, Inc. announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the radio frequency business of Wolfspeed, Inc. The RF Business includes a portfolio of Gallium Nitride (“GaN”) on Silicon Carbide (“SiC”) products used in high performance RF and microwave applications.
The business services a broad customer base of leading aerospace, defense, industrial and telecommunications customers and most recently generated annualized revenues of approximately $150 million. The acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive to MACOM’s non-GAAP earnings.
“We are excited to acquire Wolfspeed’s RF Business and look forward to welcoming its employees to MACOM,” stated Stephen G. Daly, President and Chief Executive Officer, MACOM. “The RF team’s engineering capabilities, technology and products are a perfect fit with MACOM and our strategy.”
The acquisition includes a 100mm GaN wafer fabrication facility in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina (the “RTP Fab”) with operations conveying to MACOM approximately two years following the closing and Wolfspeed’s relocation of certain production equipment.
The acquisition also includes design teams and associated product development assets in Arizona, California and North Carolina, as well as back-end production capabilities in California and Malaysia. In addition, MACOM will be assigned or licensed a robust intellectual property portfolio including over 1,400 patents associated with the RF Business.
The RF Business will be acquired for $125 million, including $75 million cash paid at closing and $50 million of MACOM common stock issued with certain restrictions. A workforce of approximately 280 employees is expected to join MACOM at closing, with additional employees joining when the RTP Fab conveys.
Closing of the transaction is subject to the expiration of a waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 and other closing conditions and is expected to occur in the second half of calendar year 2023.
Original – MACOM Technology Solutions
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Axcelis Technologies, Inc. announced a shipment of a Purion H200™ SiC ion implant system to Wolfspeed. The evaluation system will be used to support the production of power devices for electric vehicle (EV) applications.
President and CEO Dr. Russell Low of Axcelis commented, “The power device market continues to grow rapidly and is a key driver of our growth globally. We are pleased to continue to support Wolfspeed’s fab capacity expansion and are also excited about the potential of this new opportunity focused on high current implant applications in silicon carbide power devices.”
“The popularity of electric vehicles is only steepening, and Wolfspeed is focused on scaling our capacity to meet the surge in demand for our silicon carbide devices. We partnered with Axcelis due to their expertise, highly differentiated features, and process control capabilities that are essential for power device applications,” said Missy Stigall, Wolfspeed senior vice president of global fab operations. “Together, we will work to ease supply chain constraints as more and more EVs utilizing Wolfspeed’s silicon carbide technology are introduced to the market.”
Wolfspeed is currently engaged in a $6.5 billion capacity expansion effort to dramatically increase production. This includes the John Palmour Manufacturing Center for Silicon Carbide, the world’s largest Silicon Carbide crystal growth facility currently under construction in North Carolina, and the final build-out of the company’s Mohawk Valley Fab in New York. Earlier this year the company also announced its plans to build a highly automated, cutting-edge 200mm wafer fabrication facility in Saarland, Germany.
Original – Axcelis Technologies
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Silicon Carbide allows for more efficient, smaller, and more capable power conversion systems but getting the most out of these wide-bandgap devices requires intentional selection of everything around the switch. One of the most important parts of the system is the gate driver. The gate drive solution directly impacts the switching efficiency of the SiC MOSFET as well as can have features to make systems more reliable like Miller Clamp and Short Circuit Protection.
From the protection features available on the market today, to the robustness of isolated gate driver solutions, this training will teach about the intricacies of Silicon Carbide needs in gate drivers, the variety of gate drivers available, and the benefits of the various features that gate drivers can provide to the system designer.
During this webinar you will learn:
- Benefits of Silicon Carbide devices in power systems
- Why we need gate drivers for power MOSFETs
- Particulars of driving SiC MOSFETs
- Common Mode Transient Immunity
- Sizing the gate driver power supply and how to implement it
- Why certain gate drive voltages are recommended and application considerations
- Benefits of additional gate driver features for system design
- Miller Clamping
- Short Circuit Protection
- Fault Reporting
- Which gate drivers should be considered depending on the application, including the offering from Analog Devices
- Resources available to design in Silicon Carbide and SiC Gate Drivers
- Date: Wednesday, July 26, 2023
- Time: 9:00 am EDT | 15:00 CET
- Duration: 1 hour
Original – Arrow
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Wolfspeed, Inc. announced that CEO Gregg Lowe has been elected to serve on North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University’s (N.C. A&T) Board of Trustees. N.C. A&T is the nation’s No. 1-ranked historically black college or university (HBCU).
“North Carolina A&T is proud of our continued strong partnership with Wolfspeed and the appointment of CEO Gregg Lowe to our Board of Trustees,” said N.C. A&T Chancellor Harold L. Martin, Sr. “Gregg’s leadership and extensive science and technology background will serve as a vital resource for our prestigious university. I look forward to working with him as we provide new opportunities for our students to pursue the next generation of careers in the green economy, drive innovation and look to solve the problems of both today and tomorrow.”
“I am excited to join the North Carolina A&T Board of Trustees and to serve their students and community,” said Lowe. “Wolfspeed firmly believes in the power of students to change the world, and I’m eager to further strengthen our relationship while working together to usher in the next generation of scientists, technologists and innovators.”
Wolfspeed and N.C. A&T share a rich history of partnership and collaboration. In 2020, Wolfspeed committed $4 million over five years to the HBCU, the single largest donation in the university’s history at that time, to create the Wolfspeed Endowed Scholars Program.
The two entities worked together to establish comprehensive education and training curricula and cutting-edge research and innovation programs. This partnership has opened opportunities for undergraduate and graduate credentials in silicon carbide semiconductor manufacturing, as well as training and career advancement programs for existing semiconductor manufacturing workers.
During President Biden’s visit to Wolfspeed headquarters earlier this year, Wolfspeed announced the continuation of this collaboration with their intent to apply for CHIPS and Science Act funding to build a new research and development facility on North Carolina A&T’s campus. The R&D facility will be focused on silicon carbide to support the next generation of advanced compound semiconductors.
Original – Wolfspeed
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Power semiconductors companies continue to invest heavily in new factories, production capacity expansions, and R&D centers. Thus, recently the total value of the active investment projects launched since 2021 has surpassed 70 billion USD.
Driven by the pandemic and geopolitics, major power semiconductors companies started to invest more in new factories and joint ventures to have more confidence in their own supply chain in the future.
As of today, it is obvious to see the major split of power semiconductors into three geographical regions – the USA, Europe, and Asia. Asia may as well be divided into several regions with China being the leading investor of all.
Despite the ongoing tensions and export restrictions between the US, Europe, and China related to advanced semiconductors, when it comes to power semiconductors European companies continue to invest in the Chinese market expanding their product capacity or establishing new joint ventures like STMicroelectronics and Sanan Optoelectronics did recently.
Even with some delay, Japanese companies like ROHM, Mitsubishi Electric, Fuji Electric, Renesas Electronics, Toshiba, and others, pushed by their US and European competitors, announced their own projects aimed to secure the capacity on the wafer and device level to correspond to the growing demand for Si and SiC based power semiconductors coming from the electric vehicle and charging, photovoltaics, battery energy storage systems, and the other emerging applications.
If we take a closer look at all projects announced, SiC is the leading technology with over 60% of total investment. Over 25 market leaders announced their plans to invest in silicon carbide.
Thus, ROHM is investing in new production to multiply its SiC capacity in the coming years. Mitsubishi Electric teams up with Coherent to scale manufacturing of SiC power devices on a 200 mm SiC technology platform as one of the steps of their 260 billion yen investment project planned till March 2026.
Infineon Technologies continues to bet on both local European and Asian markets investing in their new fab in Dresden and expanding backend operations in Indonesia. STMicroelectronics continues to invest in WBG semiconductors with the ongoing construction of a new wafer fab in Sicily announced in 2022.
With a global total number of new investment projects of over 80, the US companies Wolfspeed, onsemi, and Microchip Technology, similar to their European counterparts, invest locally, in Europe and Asian markets. Totally the US semiconductor companies announced new projects valued at almost 9 billion USD.
With the US and EU Chips Acts, and similar initiatives in China, Japan, South Korea, and some other countries, it is clear that the investment into power semiconductors industry will continue to reach 100 billion USD soon.
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Wolfspeed, Inc. announced the promotion of Priya Almelkar to Senior Vice President, IT and Chief Information Officer. Almelkar succeeds David Costar and becomes the fifth female member of Wolfspeed’s esteemed senior leadership team.
“Over her two-and-a-half-year tenure with Wolfspeed, Priya has consistently showcased exceptional technical expertise and inspiring leadership skills,” said Gregg Lowe, CEO of Wolfspeed. “Her invaluable contributions have significantly enhanced our company’s information systems and processes. Her promotion not only recognizes her skills and contributions, but also reinforces our belief in the power of diverse perspectives and experiences in driving innovation and success. I am eager to witness the advancements she will spearhead in her new role.”
As Vice President of IT Manufacturing Operations, Almelkar played a pivotal role in driving Wolfspeed’s transition to automation, empowering the company’s analytics capabilities while ensuring data integrity and accuracy. This data-based transition has enabled enhanced tracking of customer deliveries, valuable market and competitor insights, and has improved operational efficiency.
“Wolfspeed’s ambitious growth strategy presents ample opportunities to improve IT process efficiency and compliance,” said Almelkar. “I am thrilled to continue collaborating with such knowledgeable and entrepreneurial colleagues to strengthen our digital footprint and advance our mission of energy conservation through silicon carbide.”
With over 25 years of experience in leading core IT functions and implementing large-scale digital transformations, Almelkar brings a wealth of expertise to her role. Prior to joining Wolfspeed, she spent six years at Global Foundries, where she held several positions, including Head of Digital Transformation and Head of Infrastructure.
Earlier in her career, she excelled in program management, information security and solution delivery engineering. Almelkar is also proud to serve as a sponsor of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Employee Resource Group at Wolfspeed, exemplifying the company’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. In acknowledgement of her leadership and service to the industry, she has been recognized by the National Association of Manufacturers.
Original – Wolfspeed
