Economic imbalance GaN semiconductor chip manufacturer BelGaN has run out of money

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The Belgian semiconductor chip manufacturer BelGaN once took over the production and R&D facility for silicon and GaN chip technologies in Oudenaarde from Onsemi. The future technology did not bring the company success and above all not enough investors, because at the end of July 2024 BelGaN had to file for bankruptcy.

Gallium nitride (GaN) promises as a semiconductor material significant performance increases and efficiency gains over traditional silicon-based semiconductors in various applications, so semiconductor manufacturers are putting great hope in GaN, primarily in power electronics. And power electronics itself drives many of the technologies intended to help us achieve a greener and more resource-saving world, such as electric mobility and renewable energies.

However, it is probably not to be expected that GaN semiconductor chips will be coming from Oudenaarde in Belgium, because at the end of July 2024 the officials of the company BelGaN announced that bankruptcy had to be filed. BelGaN was founded in 2022 and took over the production facility and the research and development laboratory from Onsemi. In recent years, BelGaN has been working on the transition from silicon to gallium nitride chip technologies and has been looking for additional investors to enable the process. "Unfortunately without success," BelGaN said in a press release. "As a result, the company is now forced to shut down." About 440 employees are affected by this.

However, it was not ruled out that the production could be relocated, according to the authors of The Brussels Times, as in the original press release from BelGaN, the management "regrets that the great story in Flanders seems to be coming to an end." General Manager Roger Willems clarified to the daily paper that this was primarily a statement to politics, "to ask for conditions under which the industry can survive in Belgium."

High costs, many uncertainties

Although the BelGaN website is still accessible as if nothing had happened, the crisis of the GaN specialist is regretted—such as from Silicon Saxony. GaN technologies allow our society many advancements in the areas of electric mobility and energy transition, for which high switching speeds and better thermal properties compared to silicon semiconductors have become essential.

"High production costs and uncertainties in the materials market are still keeping many potential users of this technology from using it. It's the 'old, reliable horses' that continue to be relied on." Why it would nevertheless be advantageous to "not neglect this relatively 'young filly' in the stable, to save, promote and thus keep businesses like BelGaN from a European perspective in the long term," is discussed by the officials of Silicon Saxony in a comprehensive opinion piece.

Mistakes repeating themselves

It seems strange that neither potential partners nor the Belgian state attempted to save the distressed company. "Is a mistake from the Saxon past repeating itself?" asks Silicon Saxony.

"With Qimonda AG, a spin-off of Infineon Technologies AG in Saxony, the focus has been since 2006. The complete memory chip division of Infineon was bundled in this new company at that time. Admittedly an area that has very little to do with GaN. In four and a half years, Qimonda also slid into economic difficulties and finally into bankruptcy in 2009. The courage and foresight were missing, especially with the then Saxon state government or the federal government, to save a promising technology company. Today, Qimonda would be one of only a few specialists in a sought-after semiconductor area worldwide," it is explained.

The future of BelGaN seems uncertain for the time being. However, the question of the future perspective of gallium nitride semiconductors must also be posed, because questions regarding manufacturing costs, durability, reliability and resource availability still need to be finally clarified. (sb)