Today, the Secretary of the Board of Directors of Gree responded to a question on the interactive platform:
Hello, Secretary! How is the operation and sales situation of your company’s silicon carbide factory? The news online only mentions that the factory was successfully built in 388 days, but there hasn’t been much reporting on the sales and profitability of the chip factory’s products. Could you provide some information about the production and operation of the chip factory?
The Secretary of the Board of Gree replied: Dear investors, hello! The company has established a process platform for SiC SBD and MOS chips, with some products already in mass use within the company. As a chip manufacturing factory, we have provided wafer fabrication services for multiple chip design companies.
Key points: Established
SiC SBD and MOS chip process platforms As a chip manufacturing factory, we have provided wafer fabrication services for multiple chip design companies.
On December 16, last year, Dong Mingzhu stated in “Zhenzhi Zhuojian” that Gree’s chips have succeeded, and the entire industrial chain has been completed. Gree Electric established a wholly-owned subsidiary, Zhuhai Zero Boundary Integrated Circuit Co., Ltd., in 2018, focusing on the development of home appliance chips.
Yin Zhiyao, Chairman of Zhongwei Semiconductor, previously mentioned that a wafer factory capable of producing 50,000 to 60,000 wafers per month needs to be built.
So how much investment is required? The most advanced production line requires an investment of 10 billion USD, of which 70%, or more than 70, is for purchasing semiconductor equipment.
Moreover, if we categorize semiconductor equipment into about ten categories, there are over 170 types of equipment, requiring more than 3,000 units of equipment.
As a company that produces air conditioners, Gree’s ability to develop world-class five-axis CNC machine tools in a short period is already a remarkable leap. However, Dong Mingzhu has also ventured into chip manufacturing, and the production (temperature) environment devices in Gree’s chip production line are precisely Gree’s strong suit.
Dong Mingzhu stated that making chips is not a reckless adventure for Gree Electric, but a responsibility and commitment as a Chinese manufacturing enterprise. Gree has built Asia’s first fully automated silicon carbide factory, completing the entire chip manufacturing process independently.
During the manufacturing process in the chip factory, Gree solved a major problem. “Traditional chip factories use imported environmental equipment, such as constant temperature systems, which is precisely Gree’s strong suit. Therefore, we independently manufactured a complete set of environmental equipment systems, which are more energy-efficient than traditional cooling methods, thus reducing enterprise costs.“ Dong Mingzhu also emphasized that Gree’s chip factory did not use a penny of state funds, not only setting a model for Gree but also providing a complete set of environmental equipment for more semiconductor factories.
Dong Mingzhu leads Gree’s people in continuous innovation and entrepreneurship, which is a good thing for the country, society, and people. Anyone with a public heart and standing on a fair position would think so.
Many netizens have gone too far, asking Dong Mingzhu to provide specifications for the chips, their uses, and the nanometer level of the chips.
Netizen: What nanometer technology is used? What chips are being produced? What level does Gree’s chip belong to? They even sarcastically asked: How does it compare to the power management chips in counterfeit charging treasures?
What kind of people are those who say irrelevant things or even maliciously attack Dong Mingzhu?
On April 22 of this year, Gree Electric held its shareholders’ meeting for the first time at its Zhuhai Gree silicon carbide semiconductor chip factory. The silicon carbide (SiC) power chips produced in the factory have already exceeded 1 million units installed in household air conditioning products, officially entering a new milestone of large-scale application.
Review: Starting in 2022 → Turning point in 2025
In December 2022: The Zhuhai SiC chip factory officially began construction;
Completed the line within 388 days, with full equipment connectivity expected by early 2024;
In March 2024: Dong Mingzhu confirmed in a live broadcast of the Yangcheng Evening News that the factory is about to start production;
In April 2025: SiC chips installed in air conditioning units will exceed 1 million units, becoming a landmark case for domestic power chips in the white goods sector.
The Zhuhai Ecological Environment Bureau announced in June 2023 that Gree’s silicon carbide project has a considerable construction scale.
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Project Details |
Data |
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Total Land Area |
Approximately200,000㎡ |
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Construction Period |
12 months |
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Main Buildings |
Three factories (including chip manufacturing+ packaging and testing lines) |
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Process Line |
6 inch SiC chip manufacturing+ integrated packaging and testing |
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Target Production Capacity |
Annual production of240,000 SiC wafers |
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Mass Production Timeline |
Expected to be fully operational by June 2024 |
This means that Gree will become one of the few consumer electronics companies in China with third-generation semiconductor IDM capabilities.
Home appliance “chip upgrade”, third-generation semiconductors breaking boundaries
For a long time, SiC chips have been mainly used in fields such as new energy vehicles, power grids, and industrial drives. Gree’s introduction of these chips into home appliance products not only breaks traditional application boundaries but also explores a new track for third-generation semiconductors extending from the B end to the C end.
Zhuhai Gree Electronic Components Co., Ltd. is a high-tech manufacturing enterprise integrating R&D, production, and sales. As a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gree Electric, it will adopt a vertically integrated (IDM) business model to build a chip manufacturing project in Zhuhai, Guangdong, aimed at smart living needs, with application scenarios covering new energy vehicles, photovoltaics, energy storage, charging piles, central air conditioning, and other new energy and industrial systems.
Gree’s chip factory, located in Zhuhai High-tech Zone, has a total investment of 5.5 billion yuan, with a total land area of approximately 200,000 square meters, and a construction period of 12 months. The main body of the chip project is Zhuhai Gree Electronic Components Co., Ltd., established in July 2022, which is wholly controlled by Gree Electric.
The project will build three factories and their supporting facilities, with production factory 1 planning to install a 6-inch SiC chip production line, production factory 2 planning to install a 6-inch wafer packaging and testing production line, and production factory 3 reserved for phase two.
Once the factory is completed, it will establish a production line with an annual output of 240,000 6-inch SiC chips and packaging testing, making Gree Electronics an IDM (Integrated Design + Manufacturing + Packaging) enterprise for SiC chips.
It is worth mentioning that the project has a localization rate of over 70% for key core process equipment, reportedly being the second fully automated third-generation semiconductor chip manufacturing factory in the world and the first fully automated silicon carbide chip manufacturing factory to introduce a complete automated defect detection solution.
240,000 wafers is the planned production capacity. Actual production will still need to go through yield testing and stable mass production phases.
Gree Electric has chosen third-generation semiconductors as a breakthrough point for developing the high-end chip industry, using Gree Electronics as a carrier, along with Gree’s years of layout in semiconductor design, R&D, and semiconductor module packaging testing industries, to fill the wafer manufacturing link this time. Gree Electronics will become a benchmark enterprise for the new generation of semiconductor SiC full industrial chain development, an IDM (Integrated Design + Manufacturing + Packaging) enterprise. This project will establish a production line with an annual output of 240,000 6-inch silicon carbide chips and packaging testing, creating an integrated production line for electronic components and packaging, providing support for achieving comprehensive autonomy and controllability in China’s semiconductor industry.
1. New Energy Vehicles: SiC chips have broad application prospects in the new energy vehicle field due to their excellent properties such as high thermal conductivity, high hardness, and low resistivity, significantly reducing energy consumption and withstanding high voltage and high frequency.
2. Photovoltaic Industry: SiC chips are also widely used in the photovoltaic industry, with conductive SiC chips experiencing rapid growth in applications.
3. Home Appliance Industry: Gree Electric is actively introducing silicon carbide chips and other technologies to promote energy-saving upgrades across its entire product line. Silicon carbide chips have already been applied in large quantities in air conditioning products, enhancing the chips’ operating temperature, efficiency, and current parameters.
4. Smart Grid: SiC chips have broad application prospects in the smart grid field due to their excellent performance.
5. High-speed Trains: SiC chips are also used in high-speed trains due to their high thermal conductivity, high hardness, and low resistivity.
6. Industrial Control: SiC chips are applied in the industrial control field as well.
7. Aerospace Industry: Due to their high-temperature and high-pressure resistance, SiC chips are also used in the aerospace industry.
In summary, SiC chips have a wide range of applications in Gree Electric, covering multiple fields such as new energy vehicles, photovoltaic industry, home appliance industry, smart grid, high-speed trains, industrial control, and aerospace industry, demonstrating the multifunctionality and importance of SiC chips.
What we lack is chip manufacturing, but many new so-called chip companies are all about chip design.. SiC chips, a compound of carbon and silicon, are a type of wide bandgap semiconductor material, commonly referred to as one of the third-generation semiconductor materials. Gree is entering the midstream segment, choosing third-generation semiconductors as a breakthrough point for entering the chip industry. With Gree Electric as a carrier, along with Gree’s years of layout in semiconductor design, R&D, and semiconductor module packaging testing industries, it fills the wafer manufacturing link. In the future, Gree Electronics will become a benchmark enterprise for the development of the entire SiC industrial chain, from design to manufacturing to packaging..
Currently, the market values Gree at just over 7 PE, making Gree the cheapest semiconductor chip manufacturing company in the A-share market. Gree’s production of silicon carbide wafers to flow is Gree’s customer. Carbon-based chips are equivalent to Gree being TSMC.