Bosch is restructuring its semiconductor operations into a dedicated Semiconductors division to pursue growth in automotive, consumer electronics, robotics and other markets.
The company aims to find additional sales opportunities beyond its existing automotive and consumer businesses, which include smartphones and wearables. Bosch chips are already used in robotics, including to enable efficient control of humanoid robots, and the company says high-precision sensors could provide a foundation for additional smart systems. Bosch plans to open more manufacturing capacity to external partners and systematically expand its foundry business.
Pic above: View into the clean room production at the Bosch semiconductor plant in Dresden.
Erik Rein, who is responsible for Bosch’s semiconductor business, said: “In the future, we’ll be able to better tailor our services to our customers’ needs – in the automotive sector, consumer electronics, and beyond.” Rein said Bosch’s strengths include its market and technology leadership in MEMS sensors and its integration of semiconductors into its systems business, including silicon carbide chips and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs).
Bosch has approximately 40 semiconductor sites worldwide for research, development and manufacturing. It has invested approximately 3 billion euros in its wafer fabs in Dresden and Reutlingen in recent years, and is spending about 2 billion U.S. dollars to equip its Roseville, California, plant to manufacture specialized silicon carbide chips. The company also plans to expand its test center in Penang, Malaysia, by the middle of the next decade. Bosch holds a 10 percent stake in European Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (ESMC) GmbH, a joint venture in Dresden.
Bosch’s semiconductor business has been part of its Mobility Electronics division, alongside its in-house business with electronic control units and power electronics. With effect from January 2028, Mobility Electronics will encompass the business related to electronic control units for automotive applications.
