Bosch is expanding its semiconductor business further. The company has now opened a new testing center for chips and sensors in Penang, Malaysia, at a cost of around EUR65 million, and plans to invest an additional EUR285 million at the location by the middle of the next decade.
"With our new semiconductor testing center in Penang, we are creating additional capacities within our global manufacturing network to meet the ongoing high demand for chips and sensors," said Dr. Stefan Hartung, chairman of Bosch, in a statement. Semiconductors are a "critical success factor" for all of Bosch's business fields, and the expansion of this business is of "strategic high relevance."
Bosch plans to invest around EUR3 billion in Dresden and Reutlingen, Germany over the next three years as part of its own investment plan and within the European funding program IPCEI (Important Project of Common European Interest) Microelectronics and Communication Technology. After the expected acquisition of parts of TSI Semiconductors' business in Roseville, California, later this year, Bosch plans to invest another approximately EUR1.4 billion euros in the conversion of the factory to state-of-the-art manufacturing processes for silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductors.
