On the evening of May 11, 2021, BYD Co., Ltd. (002594.SZ) announced that the board of directors passed a resolution that the company intends to spin off its subsidiary BYD Semiconductor and to list it on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange’s Growth Enterprise Market.

After the spin-off is completed, BYD will still maintain control of BYD Semiconductor, and BYD Semiconductor will remain a subsidiary within the scope of BYD’s consolidated statements.

BYD Semiconductor will focus on automotive-grade semiconductors and simultaneously promote the development of semiconductor business in the auto industry, home appliances, new energy, consumer electronics, and other sectors. It is committed to becoming an integrated new semiconductor supplier.

BYD Semiconductor mainly manufactures IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor) related chips. The chip manufacturing process is 45nm, and the chip manufacturing process is self reliant and self-controlled independently.

IGBT chip is the most representative product of BYD Semiconductor. IGBT is the core chip in the electric car, because of its high design threshold, challenging manufacturing technology, and intensive capital investment.

Compared with Infineon’s IGBT chip, BYD’s self-developed chip still lags behind. Infineon’s IGBT has developed to the 7th generation, and BYD’s IGBT 4.0 was released at the end of 2018 and is only equivalent to the international 5th generation IGBT.

In terms of cost, Infineon has a 12-inch production line, while BYD has an 8-inch production line. The larger the wafer, the lower the manufacturing cost per chip.

In terms of process, the most important process for IGBT chips is the thinning process. Infineon’s IGBT chips can be thinned down to 40μm (micrometers), while BYD’s level at the end of 2018 is 120μm.