German semiconductor manufacturer reports record profit and plans to invest billions in new manufacturing capacity.
German semiconductor manufacturer Infineon plans to expand its Dresden site. Five billion euros will be invested in a new chip plant, the company announced Monday (PDF).
For Infineon, which is one of the world’s ten largest chip companies, 2022 was a record financial year, with sales growing 29 percent year-on-year to 14.2 billion euros, CEO Jochen Hanebeck reported. The “largest single investment in the company’s history” is now intended to respond to the steadily increasing demand for chips due to decarbonization and digitalization. After its expected completion in the fall of 2026, the new plant could generate annual sales of around five billion euros at full capacity, according to Infineon, which corresponds to the planned investment sum.
A prerequisite for construction, however, would be “appropriate funding” under the European Chips Act. With the proposed legislation, the EU aims to promote the domestic semiconductor industry and reduce dependencies that had been brought into sharp focus by the global chip crisis.
Infineon, which relies on materials such as silicon carbide and gallium nitride in its products, is the global market leader in automotive and power semiconductors. Other semiconductor manufacturers such as Bosch and Globalfoundries also operate plants at the Dresden production site, and numerous suppliers and research institutions are also located here. The region is considered the center of chip technology in Europe.
Photo: iStock/Mykola Pokhodzhay
