Infineon Plans €1.1 Billion Gallium Nitride Chip Expansion in Austria

German semiconductor manufacturer Infineon said on Tuesday, October 27, that it plans to invest €1.1 billion in a new gallium nitride (GaN) power-semiconductor production operation at its existing site in Villach, Austria. The project is intended to expand the supply of chips used to manage electrical power in data centres, energy infrastructure, electric vehicles and other equipment.

The company describes the planned facility as the first high-volume manufacturing operation for the latest generation of GaN power semiconductors using 300-millimetre wafers. The wider wafers can yield substantially more chips than the 200-millimetre wafers commonly used for these devices. According to the company's figures reported by Reuters, a 300-millimetre wafer can hold about 2.3 times as many chips as a 200-millimetre wafer.

German news agency dpa reported that production is expected to start near the end of 2027, while the investment programme will run through 2034. Infineon intends to use existing cleanroom capacity at Villach rather than construct an entirely separate site. The company has not announced a completed plant or immediate commercial output from the expansion.

GaN components can switch electrical current rapidly, allowing manufacturers to design more efficient power-conversion systems. Such systems are important for high-power computing installations, where electricity use and cooling requirements are growing as operators add artificial-intelligence workloads. Infineon also identifies applications in electric mobility, robotics and consumer electronics.

The investment is a manufacturing commitment, not a forecast of guaranteed chip sales. Its eventual impact will depend on the construction and production ramp-up, customer demand and the company's ability to manufacture the new devices at scale.