In the face of the global chip shortage, Bosch is increasing its capital expenditure. Bosch plans to invest more than 400 million euros in expanding its wafer fabs in Dresden and Reutlingen, Germany, and its semiconductor operations in Penang, Malaysia in 2022.
Most of the capital expenditure is earmarked for Bosch’s new 300-millimeter wafer fab in Dresden, where manufacturing capacity is to be expanded even faster in 2022. Around 50 million euros of the planned sum will be spent on the wafer fab in Reutlingen near Stuttgart in the coming year. Bosch will invest a total of 150 million euros in additional clean-room space from 2021 to 2023. In Penang, Malaysia, Bosch is also building a test center for semiconductors from scratch. Starting in 2023, the center will test finished semiconductor chips and sensors.
In two stages, a total of more than 4,000 square meters will be added to the current 35,000 square meters of clean-room space in Reutlingen. The first stage, adding 1,000 square meters of production area for 200-millimeter wafers to bring the total to 11,500 square meters, has already been completed. This involved converting office space into a clean room over recent months and connecting it to the existing wafer fab via a bridge. The new facility has been producing wafers since September.
“Demand for chips is continuing to grow at breakneck speed. In light of current developments, we are systematically expanding our semiconductor production so we can provide our customers with the best possible support,” says Dr. Volkmar Denner, chairman of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH. “These planned investments demonstrate once again the strategic importance of having our own manufacturing capacity for the core technology of semiconductors.”
Another portion of the capital expenditure planned for 2022 will go into a new semiconductor test center in Penang. This highly automated and connected factory is set to perform testing of semiconductor chips and sensors starting in 2023. In total, Bosch has more than 100,000 square meters of land available on Penang’s mainland strip, which will be developed in stages. Initially, the test center will cover an area of around 14,000 square meters – including clean rooms, office space, research and development, and training facilities for up to 400 associates. Earthworks for the new location started at the end of 2020, and work on the buildings began in May 2021. The test center is scheduled to start operations in 2023. The additional testing capacity in Penang is intended to open up the possibility of locating new technologies in Bosch’s wafer fabs in the future, such as silicon carbide semiconductors in Reutlingen. In addition, the new location in Asia will shorten delivery times and distances for the chips.