Bosch to set up dedicated semiconductor division, targets €5 billion in sales
Bosch will move its semiconductor business into a dedicated division from January 2028. The company aims to reach semiconductor sales of around EUR 5 billion by 2030, and plans to open up more of its manufacturing capacity to external customers.
The new division, Semiconductors, is part of the reorganisation of Bosch’s corporate structure and its Mobility business sector that the company announced at the end of October, according to a press release from Bosch. The semiconductor business is currently part of the Mobility Electronics division, which from 2028 will instead cover electronic control units for automotive applications.
The move is driven by fast-growing demand, particularly from robotics and AI data centres. Bosch cites analyses by Strategy& and the German electrical and digital industry association ZVEI, which states that robotics and industrial automation could double European demand for semiconductors by 2040.
Beyond cars and consumer electronics such as smartphones and wearables, Bosch sees growth in robotics. The company already supplies sensors for everything from robotic vacuum cleaners to humanoid robots, and according to Markus Heyn, deputy chairman of Bosch’s board of management and chairman of the Mobility business sector, Bosch chips are already used to control humanoid robots. Bosch also plans to systematically expand its foundry business.
“In the future, we’ll be able to better tailor our services to our customers’ needs – in the automotive sector, consumer electronics, and beyond. Our unique strengths in the semiconductor business are our market and technology leadership in MEMS sensors, as well as the way we’ve integrated semiconductors into our systems business. In particular, that includes silicon carbide chips and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs),” says Erik Rein, who is responsible for Bosch’s semiconductor business.
Bosch has around 40 semiconductor sites worldwide for research, development and manufacturing. In recent years, the company has invested around EUR 3 billion in its wafer fabs in Dresden and Reutlingen, and in Roseville, California, it is spending about USD 2 billion to equip its plant for silicon carbide chip production. The test centre in Penang, Malaysia, will be expanded further by the middle of the next decade. Bosch also holds a 10% stake in ESMC, the joint venture in Dresden.
