Cree, Inc. and STMicroelectronics announced recently the expansion of an existing multi-year, long-term silicon carbide wafer supply agreement. The amended agreement, which calls for Cree to supply ST with 150mm silicon carbide bare and epitaxial wafers over the next several years, is now worth more than $800 million. 

“This latest expansion to our long-term wafer supply agreement with Cree will continue to contribute to the flexibility of our global silicon carbide substrate supply. It will continue to contribute importantly to our global silicon carbide supply, complementing the other external capacity we have secured and the internal capacity we are ramping. The agreement will help meet the high volumes required by our product manufacturing operations in the next years, with a large number of automotive and industrial customer programs in high volumes or ramping up,” said Jean-Marc Chery, President and CEO of STMicroelectronics.

The adoption of silicon carbide-based power solutions is rapidly growing across the automotive market as the industry moves from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles, enabling greater system efficiencies that result in electric cars with longer range and faster charging, while reducing cost, lowering weight and conserving space. In the industrial market, silicon carbide solutions enable smaller, lighter and more cost-effective designs, converting energy more efficiently to unlock new clean energy applications. To better support these growing markets, device manufacturers are interested in securing access to high-quality silicon carbide substrates to support their customers.

“We are very pleased that STMicroelectronics will continue to leverage Wolfspeed silicon carbide materials as part of their supply strategy for the next several years,” said Cree CEO Gregg Lowe. “Our long-term wafer supply agreements with device manufacturers now total more than $1.3 billion and help support our efforts to drive the industry transition from silicon to silicon carbide. Our partnerships and significant investments in increased production capacity ensure we are well positioned to capitalize on what we believe to be is a multi-decade growth opportunity for silicon carbide-based applications.”