Infineon will invest around 1.1 billion euros by 2034 to build high-volume gallium nitride power semiconductor production on 300-millimetre wafers at Villach, Austria, with production starting by the end of 2027.
German chipmaker Infineon Technologies will invest around 1.1 billion euros by 2034 to set up high-volume production of gallium nitride power semiconductors on 300-millimetre wafers at its site in Villach, Austria, the company announced on 27 October.
Production is scheduled to start by the end of 2027, using Infineon's existing cleanroom facilities in Villach, which the company says allows capacity to be expanded efficiently and cost-effectively. The ramp-up will be adjusted to market demand, and the investment will go into the existing site rather than a wholly new factory.
Gallium nitride, known as GaN, switches and converts power more efficiently than silicon, allowing smaller and more energy-efficient systems, according to Infineon. The company says a 300-millimetre wafer yields 2.3 times as many chips as a 200-millimetre wafer, and that it processed its first 300-millimetre GaN wafers two years ago. It is targeting applications including artificial intelligence data centres, energy infrastructure, electric mobility, robotics and consumer electronics, and, citing Yole Group, says the market for GaN power semiconductors is expected to grow by around 35 percent a year to roughly $3.5 billion in 2031.
Infineon's announcement is the primary source for the investment, the production start date and the wafer claims, and Dow Jones reporting corroborates the headline figure of about 1.1 billion euros, or $1.23 billion. The European Commission has approved 319 million euros in state aid under the European Chips Act, but the formal funding commitment from Austria's economy ministry is still expected, according to Evertiq's report of the announcement, so the public contribution is not yet final. Infineon has not said how many jobs the new production will create, and this story does not claim a jobs figure.
Chief executive Jochen Hanebeck said the investment showed Infineon's commitment to strengthening the European semiconductor ecosystem and Europe's technological sovereignty, and that by establishing high-volume manufacturing on 300-millimetre wafers, Infineon would be the first company in the world to bring gallium nitride power electronics into volume production. Villach is already Infineon's competence centre for power semiconductors, with about 4,800 employees there and about 5,800 across Austria.
Production starting by the end of 2027 is the next dated milestone, with investment continuing through 2034. Whether demand for AI data centre and energy infrastructure power systems grows as Infineon expects will determine how quickly the Villach lines ramp beyond their first output.