On November 9, according to foreign media reports, power semiconductor manufacturer ON Semiconductor's Bucheon wafer fab production line was temporarily suspended due to a power outage on the 5th. The power outage lasted for about 20 minutes, and because only some equipment was equipped with uninterruptible power supplies, during Most equipment is out of action. Due to industry environmental reasons, it is considering closing the factory for two weeks in mid-December.

ON Semiconductor operates a semiconductor factory in Dodang-dong, Bucheon City. The S1 to S4 production lines produce silicon carbide (SiC) metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs) and silicon (Si) insulated bipolar transistors (IGBTs). Recently, in order to expand SiC semiconductor production, the S5 production line has been built and equipment is being installed.

Because shutting down equipment in the semiconductor manufacturing process is so disruptive, most of the wafers in production during a power outage must be scrapped. Additionally, it takes a considerable amount of time from device reboot to maintenance and testing.

Currently, the plant is conducting tests after restarting the equipment. It is estimated that ON Semiconductor will suffer some financial losses as a result of the outage. Taking Samsung Electronics as an example, the power outage in Austin, USA in 2021 caused losses of 300-400 billion won (approximately RMB 1.7-2.22 billion). However, ON Semiconductor's outages are shorter and smaller than the Austin wafer fab, so the losses are expected to be smaller than Samsung Electronics.

In this regard, a senior executive of ON Semiconductor Korea said, "We started last Monday and after two days of work, we successfully normalized the lines, and the economic losses (due to the power outage) were not that big."

Meanwhile, ON Semiconductor is considering closing its Bucheon plant for about two weeks starting around mid-December. A senior executive in the materials field said, "If the industry continues to deteriorate, as far as we know, business will be reduced or closed as early as December."

Data shows that the Bucheon factory was once the non-memory production base of Samsung Electronics. In 1999, Samsung sold its power semiconductor division to Fairchild Semiconductor of the United States, and the Bucheon factory was also transferred as part of the transaction. Later, in 2016, ON Semiconductor acquired Fairchild Semiconductor. ON Semiconductor currently produces 6-inch SiC semiconductors on the S1 to S4 production lines of the Bucheon plant, supplying major automakers such as Tesla, Hyundai Motor, Kia, and BMW.

ON Semiconductor has stated that the Bucheon factory is the core asset of its SiC semiconductor business. It not only serves customers in the Asia-Pacific region, but also in North America and Europe. From crystal growth to semiconductor production and R&D, ON Semiconductor will devote resources to all these areas.

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