Landing the contract! SMEI cooperates with Qingzhou to build a 6-8 inch GaN chip manufacturing line

On April 1 2021, the signing ceremony of the "Qingzhou Poly-energy International 6-8 inch silicon-based gallium nitride power device semiconductor manufacturing project" was successfully held in the FAB factory of SMEI. Weifang Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee and Mayor Liu Yun, Municipal Government Deputy Secretary-General and Research Office Director Zhang Zhihai, Qingzhou Municipal Party Committee Deputy Secretary and Mayor Song Weiwei, Weifang Investment Cooperation Promotion Bureau Director Han Wenhong, Chen Zhijun Deputy Director, Weifang Sports Bureau Party Group Member, Deputy Director, Chairman of the Municipal Sports Federation Wang Yanni, Director of Weifang Shuangzhao Shuangyin Liaison Office in Beijing, Luo Xiaoqing, Deputy Mayor of Qingzhou Municipal Government Ren Guangxue, Executive Deputy Secretary of the Party Working Committee of Qingzhou Economic Development Zone and Director of the Management Committee Liu Wenge, Director of Qingzhou Investment Cooperation Promotion Center Liu Xin; Dr. Yang Yunchun, Chairman and General Manager of SMEI (online connect), Dr. Shen Yong, Chief Operating Officer of SMEI, Mr. Zhang Abin, Director, Deputy General Manager, and Secretary of the Board of Directors of SMEI, Qingzhou Poly-energy International prospective executive director Mr. Liu Xipeng, General Manager of Cohenius Dr. Yuan Li, Vice President and CFO of SMEI, Mr. Cai Meng, Vice President, Ms. Zhou Jiayu, Mr. Liu Bo and others attended the ceremony.

At the beginning of the ceremony, Liu Yun, deputy secretary of the Weifang Municipal Party Committee and Mayor conducted video communication and delivered speeches with Yang Yunchun, chairman and president of SMEI who is still overseas. Liu Yun mentioned that Weifang has a sound industrial foundation and a complete range of industries. Weifang has abudant advanced manufacturing companies such as Weichai and Goertek. Weifang is currently seizing important opportunities for the national and provincial development of the semiconductor industry and is committed to building a domestic high-end manufacturing highland. Weifang will implement the service enterprise commissioner system and fully support the development of the Qingzhou project of SMEI.

Song Weiwei, Deputy Secretary of the Qingzhou Municipal Party Committee and Mayor, delivered a speech that the leaders of Weifang City and relevant counties and districts went to Beijing to connect enterprises and negotiate projects, which has set off a new round of project recruitment and accelerated development. Qingzhou is one of the ancient Kyushu and has a long history and profound cultural heritage, and is known as the "Pearl of Haidai" and " Xinmei First Eastern State". Qingzhou City currently governs 4 streets, 8 towns and 1 provincial economic development zone, with a total area of ​​1,569 square kilometers and a population of 957,000. It is a national civilized city, a national historical and cultural city, a national sanitary city, and a national tourism demonstration zone. Qingzhou insists on highlighting the main business of "advanced manufacturing", takes the creation of the "Made in Qingzhou" brand as the focus of constructing a modern industrial system, vigorously supports the development of high-end manufacturing, plans and builds featured parks, and issues policies to guide and support enterprise technological innovation. In the next step, Qingzhou will thoroughly implement Weifang’s key work breakthroughs and service enterprise development mobilization meetings and the spirit of Weifang’s “two sessions”, implement enterprise (project) service specialists, continue to pay attention to project progress, optimize the project construction environment, and go all out to provide qualified and following precise service, and strive to create good conditions for project promotion.

The director, vice president, and secretary of the board of directors SMEI introduced the basics, development, GaN business layout of SMEI and details of this contracted project. Since establishment, SMEI has successfully extended its business to the upstream of the industrial chain through endogenous development and epitaxial mergers. Based on the judgment of the prospects of the MEMS and GaN industries, and constrained by the complex international political and economic environment, the company has made major adjustments to its long-term development strategy. In the core business structure, MEMS and GaN has become strategic businesses with different stages of development and focus on development. Meanwhile SMEI has carried out a series of industrial investment layouts based on main business, directly or through industrial funds, making equity investments in the industrial chain. SMEI aims to become a well-known semiconductor technology enterprise group locally and internationally.

SMEI has invested in the establishment of Cohenius in July 2018 that mainly engaged in the design and development of power and microwave devices, especially gallium nitride (GaN) power and microwave devices; and invested in the establishment of Genettice in June 2018 which mainly engaged in the design, development, and production of semiconductor materials, especially gallium nitride (GaN) epitaxial materials; as a first-level platform for the company's GaN business, Cohenius brings together industry-leading teams and owns third-generation semiconductor materials technical capabilities and reserves of the entire industry chain including growth, process manufacturing, and device design. Up to now, a series of products have been formed in 6-8 inch silicon-based GaN epitaxial wafers, GaN power devices and applications, and achieved volume sales.

The market demand for the GaN (gallium nitride) business of SMEI is quite strong, however the excellent performance of self-developed products is severely restricted by external uncontrollable capacity. SMEI and Qingzhou jointly invested in the construction of a 6-8 inch GaN chip manufacturing line, which will be adaptively supplemented on the basis of existing land plants, and has locked a complete set of hotline equipment. The goal is to build and launch production in 2021 for Poly-energy International,which will further improve the IDM layout of the entire industry chain of GaN business for SMEI, further strengthen capacity guarantee on the basis of existing industry chain cooperation, grasp the key window of opportunity for the development of GaN business, and gradually form an independent, controllable, all-local GaN material, design, and manufacturing capabilities that are integrated and sustainable thus to promote the long-term development of the third-generation semiconductor business.

The signing ceremony was successfully concluded. Liu Yun, Deputy Secretary of Weifang Municipal Party Committee and Mayor, Song Weiwei, Deputy Secretary of Qingzhou Municipal Party Committee and Mayor, Shen Yong, Chief Operating Officer of SMEI, and Zhang Abin, Director, Vice President and Secretary of the Board, exchanged gifts and expressed wishes for the construction and commissioning of the 6-8 inch GaN chip manufacturing line.

On the same day, Zhang Abin, director, vice president, and secretary of the board of directors of SMEI, and Yan An, vice president of Silex Beijing, subsidiary of SMEI, accompanied Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee and Mayor Liu Yun, and Qingzhou Municipal Party Committee Deputy Secretary and Mayor Song Weiwei and visited the "8-inch MEMS international foundry line" of SMEI and introduced the operation of the production line.