Bosch opens $1.2 bln wafer fab in Germany

With the virtual presence of Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel, EU Commission Vice-President Margrethe Vestager, and Saxony’s Minister-President Michael Kretschmer, the high-tech facility was inaugurated on June 7.

"The new Bosch wafer fab will boost our capacity in microelectronics. Microelectronics is the basis for nearly every promising technology, for applications of artificial intelligence, for quantum computing, and for automated and connected driving, which is also a Bosch specialty," said Federal Chancellor Merkel.

The launching event was held online. Photo by Bosch.

Bosch is investing roughly $1.2 billion in this high-tech project, the biggest single investment in the company's more than 130 years history.

Production in Dresden will start as early as July, six months earlier than planned. Semiconductors made in the new plant will be installed in Bosch power tools. For automotive customers, chip production will start in September, and thus three months earlier than planned. The new factory will be an important part of the semiconductor manufacturing network.

Bosch's new wafer fab in Dresden. Photo by Bosch.

"For Bosch, semiconductors are a core technology, and it is strategically important to develop and manufacture them ourselves. In Dresden, with the help of artificial intelligence, we will take semiconductor manufacturing to the next level," said Volkmar Denner, chairman of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH.

Over 20 years since entering Vietnam in 1994, Bosch Vietnam has grown its presence across the country. It now has more than 4,200 associates, offices in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, a Powertrain Solutions Plant in the southern province of Dong Nai, and two R&D centers in HCMC.

Bosch Vietnam has a diversified business portfolio including two-wheeler and powersports, automotive original equipment, power tools, drive and control technology, automotive aftermarket, building technologies, and thermotechnology and home appliances.

In 2020, Bosch Vietnam was ranked among the best companies to work for in the country, making it the fifth consecutive year that Bosch is being listed as one of the top 100 employers.