Multiple semiconductor manufacturers, including Hangzhou Silan Microelectronics Co.,Ltd., Infineon Technologies AG, and China Resources Microelectronics Limited, have recently issued official price increase notifications to their customers. This concentrated wave of price adjustments from numerous companies has drawn significant industry attention. To date, several power semiconductor firms, both international giants and domestic Chinese enterprises, have explicitly announced price hikes or official adjustment plans.
In its notification, Hangzhou Silan Microelectronics Co.,Ltd. stated that due to volatility in the global metals market, the prices of key precious metals used in chips have risen substantially. This is compounded by continuously increasing wafer manufacturing costs. The company's internal cost-reduction measures can no longer fully absorb the cost pressures, leading to the decision to adjust prices for relevant products. The price increase from Hangzhou Silan Microelectronics Co.,Ltd. will take effect on March 1, 2026, affecting various power device products such as small-signal diode/transistor chips, trench TMBS chips, and MOS-type chips, with a uniform increase of 10%.
On the same day, German semiconductor giant Infineon Technologies AG also issued a price adjustment notice, announcing that it will raise prices for certain power switching devices and integrated circuit (IC) products effective April 1, 2026. Infineon Technologies AG explained that the hike is primarily driven by two factors: firstly, demand for its range of power switching and IC products has surged significantly, driven by the large-scale construction and deployment of AI data centers, leading to sustained tight supply for related products; secondly, to meet the continuously growing market demand, the company requires substantial additional investment to expand wafer fab capacity, while simultaneously facing significant rises in raw material and infrastructure costs.
Earlier, China Resources Microelectronics Limited formally released a price adjustment notice, clarifying that it will initiate price increases for its full range of microelectronics products starting February 1, 2026, with a minimum increase of 10%. China Resources Microelectronics Limited indicated that the persistent and substantial rise in prices for upstream raw materials and key precious metals in the global semiconductor supply chain has directly led to a significant increase in its wafer manufacturing and packaging & testing costs.
Cost Pressures and Demand Drivers are Core Reasons for Hikes The successive price increases by global power semiconductor companies recently are not coincidental but rather the result of combined effects from industry supply-demand dynamics, cost pressures, and supply chain transmission. The logic behind the price hikes is deeply tied to the characteristics of the power semiconductor industry chain. Looking at the core reasons, the primary driver is sustained pressure on the cost side, a common factor throughout the entire supply chain. On one hand, rising commodity prices directly push up production costs. On the other hand, tight wafer foundry capacity is increasing manufacturing costs. Leading foundries like TSMC and Samsung are gradually phasing out mature 8-inch wafer processes, while domestic foundries like SMIC and Hua Hong are allocating more capacity to memory chips, leading to strained foundry resources for power devices and higher market-based pricing, further adding to corporate cost pressures.
Secondly, structural growth on the demand side provides support for the price increases. With the rapid development of downstream sectors such as AI data centers, new energy vehicles, energy storage, and industrial control, market demand for power semiconductors continues to climb. The explosive growth of AI servers, in particular, represents a significant source of demand增量. The power rating of traditional server power supplies is around 800W, whereas AI servers commonly use 5.5kW power supplies and are moving towards 12kW. According to industry information, the value of power semiconductors per server has jumped from $6-7 to $30-50, an increase of nearly five times, directly driving a surge in demand for products like power switches and power management ICs, with some models even experiencing shortages. This provides a market basis for companies to raise prices. Simultaneously, continued development in automotive electronics and the energy storage field further amplifies the demand gap for power semiconductors, supporting upward price momentum.
Price Hikes Create Linkage, Presenting New Opportunities for Third-Generation Semiconductors A further analysis suggests that for third-generation semiconductors, price increases by major power semiconductor manufacturers will have profound and multi-dimensional impacts. Currently, the biggest obstacle to the widespread adoption of third-generation semiconductors is their higher per-unit cost compared to traditional silicon-based (Si) devices. When giants like Infineon Technologies AG and TI raise prices for traditional silicon-based power devices (like IGBTs and MOSFETs), the price gap between formerly low-cost silicon products and expensive SiC/GaN alternatives correspondingly narrows. For downstream customers (such as new energy vehicle manufacturers or server vendors), if silicon-based device prices rise while third-generation semiconductor costs are decreasing through mass production, the system-level cost-performance ratio of switching to high-performance SiC/GaN improves significantly, potentially accelerating the market transition from first-generation to third-generation semiconductors.
Secondly, price hikes by power semiconductor manufacturers will also prompt downstream companies to re-evaluate their cost structures. Although SiC devices themselves are more expensive, their high-temperature and high-voltage tolerance can significantly reduce the size of heat sinks and passive components. When traditional power device prices increase, automotive manufacturers might lean towards using SiC to offset chip-side cost pressures by reducing vehicle weight and battery pack capacity. In the AI server power supply market, price increases for traditional silicon-based power supplies may encourage manufacturers to shift towards more efficient GaN solutions to achieve long-term operational cost savings through lower PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) and reduced electricity expenses.
Conclusion In summary, the wave of price increases in the power semiconductor sector, led by Infineon Technologies AG, is not merely a cost-pass-through action by individual companies. It is an inevitable result of the resonance of multiple factors including industry supply-demand imbalance, rising costs, and technological iteration. It also serves as an important signal that the global power semiconductor industry is entering a period of structural adjustment. In the long term, this price hike trend is not only accelerating the domestic substitution process for silicon-based power semiconductors within China but also acting as a crucial catalyst for third-generation semiconductors to break through cost barriers and achieve large-scale application, thereby pushing the industry towards a transformation focused on high-efficiency, energy-saving, and miniaturized high-end sectors.
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