ROHM Co., Ltd. has reached a basic agreement with Solar Frontier K.K. to acquire the assets of Solar Frontier’s former Kunitomi Plant, located in Japan. Accordingly, the acquisition will take place in October 2023 and will belong to the ROHM Group’s main production bases.

Complements Rising Needs

The role of semiconductors, one of ROHM’s core business fields, is becoming increasingly important to achieving a decarbonized society. Most importantly, the automotive and industrial equipment markets are undergoing technological innovation such as electrification. These new trends will help reduce environmental impact and achieve carbon neutrality.

With this, the demand is increasing – especially for power and analog semiconductors.

As further expansion of the semiconductor market is expected, the ROHM Group intends to expand its production capacity continuously, particularly for silicon carbide (SiC) power devices, and ensure a stable supply to ROHM’s customers.

Reinforces Capacity

Located in Taziri, Kunitomi-cho, in Japan’s Miyazaki, the site area has approximately 400,000sq.m. Meanwhile, the total floor area is about 230,000sq.m.

ROHM plans to use about 115,000sq.m of the building as production for SiCs. Particularly, they target to start operation by the end of 2024.

With the acquisition of the new assets, ROHM expects to cover SiC production capacity until FY2030. Thus, it sees its capacity to be 35 times greater than its FY2021 level.