August 8, 2024 /SemiMedia/ -- According to reports, onsemi plans to qualify 200mm (8in) silicon carbide (SiC) wafers later this year and go into production in 2025.

“We are still on track to what we said we will qualify 8-inch this year, that’s when I talk about qualifying, it’s substrates all the way through fabs. So that will be qualified this year, starting revenue next year in line with our expectations,” said Hassane El-Khoury, president and CEO, onsemi.

“As reflected by our recent supply agreement with Volkswagen Group, we also continue to strengthen our silicon carbide position in automotive as we ramp production with leading global OEMs in Europe, North America and China,” he added.

However, onsemi's inventory increased during the quarter, partly due to the sale of its wafer fabs in recent years.

“We divested four fabs in a couple of years ago, and it’s $160 million of fixed-cost that we’ll start to recognize as demand picks up and we start manufacturing those products within our existing network, so we’ve got to bleed through that inventory that we’ve been building for those fab transitions. And as we move that into our network, we start to see that benefit,” said El-Khoury.

“As we noted in the first quarter, demand in core markets has stabilised somewhat. Inventory digestion continues with improvement in some areas as customers remain cautious in 2024,” said Hassane El-Khoury.