Vishay Intertechnology, a renowned manufacturer of discrete semiconductors and passive components, will invest £ 51 million in Newport Wafer Fab (NWF) located in Wales. The wafer fab was forcibly acquired from Nexperia at the beginning of this year.
This investment is supported by £ 5 million from the Welsh government, which also supports other semiconductor companies in the region.
This investment will support the construction of new production lines for power devices and the transition to silicon carbide (SiC) power devices. Prior to Nexperia's acquisition, the wafer fab had a small gallium nitride (GaN) device foundry line.
Another American company, KLA, is building its new European headquarters in Imperial Park, Newport, after acquiring semiconductor equipment manufacturer SPTS under Orbitech.
This $100 million development project is creating a development center and manufacturing facilities, and will include clean rooms for research and manufacturing. We are currently recruiting up to 750 employees.
The Composite Semiconductor Application Launch Center located near Newport has also opened a £ 1.6 million composite semiconductor packaging test line.
Microlink Devices and CS Connected are the first tenants of the 51000 square foot Cardiff Gate Innovation Centre, while a £ 2.5 million net zero emissions research project at Swansea University's Semiconductor Materials Centre is partnering with Vishay to study how to reduce emissions in the semiconductor industry.
Composite semiconductors are everywhere - in our homes, phones, trains, and turbines. They are an important component of the modern world's operation, and although insignificant, the global growth prospects are very strong. And we in Wales are increasingly becoming a world leading region in its production and manufacturing fields, "said Rebecca Evans, Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy, and Planning of the Welsh government.
After ten years of cluster cultivation, we are now reaping the rewards we promised, and we will continue to push for this commitment
Wales will welcome a visit from Canadian semiconductor companies in the spring of 2025.
