Soitec CEO: we could build a US facility
French semiconductor materials company Soitec is weighing up the benefits of constructing a factory in the US in a bid to be near to its key customers.
In an interview with Bloomberg News, the firm's CEO Pierre Barnabé said that Soitec needs to be close to clients such as TSMC, which are re-locating to Arizona and other states to take advantage of generous US subsidies.
He said: “We are in a decoupling of our world and we need to be present. Being in the US also allows us to be quicker in addressing our customers.”
Soitec is a key supplier to the world's biggest fabs. It designs and manufactures silicon carbide substrates, which are patterned and cut into chips to make circuits for electronic components. The company currently runs facilities in Singapore, Belgium and France.
Soitec has traditionally relied heavily on the smartphone space but is now diversifying into the EV and consumer electronics markets.
