SiC’s main market is broadening from automotive to power and industry
The association of SiC with EVs is now only one part of the picture. On July 23, 2026, Navitas Semiconductor announced a strategic partnership with Magnachip Semiconductor. Navitas will license high- and ultra-high-voltage SiC technology to Magnachip, which will localize it at its Korean fab. The partners are targeting grid infrastructure, industrial electrification, and energy-storage systems—high-voltage power applications rather than EVs.
The technology being licensed—beyond 3300V
The license covers Navitas’ GeneSiC Gen4/Gen5 platform at 1200V, 2300V, and above 3300V. GeneSiC TAP technology is positioned as fourth- and fifth-generation technology that reaches ultra-high voltages beyond 3300V. While 1200V is principally an automotive-inverter range, 2300V and above 3300V serve grid equipment, industrial systems, and large energy storage. Demand is beginning to emerge in power-infrastructure equipment such as solid-state transformers (SSTs), STATCOM, and HVDC.
For Magnachip, the key point is borrowing the technology and localizing it at its own fab. This is not merely product procurement: SiC chip design and manufacturing capability will be brought into Korea. Navitas will provide its SiC supply chain and materials ecosystem, while Magnachip transfers and qualifies it in its own process.
Why high voltage outside EVs?
The partnership shows that the competitive axis in SiC is widening. Automotive 1200V products face intense price competition and continued volume pressure from Chinese producers. High-voltage SiC for grids and industry, in contrast, has more demanding reliability and voltage requirements and higher entry barriers. As SSTs begin to serve AI data-center power delivery and grid-stabilization demand grows through STATCOM and HVDC, high-voltage SiC is becoming a growth axis distinct from automotive.
Magnachip’s localization of high-voltage SiC in Korea is also a step toward domestic capability in the country’s power and industrial supply chain. For Navitas, it creates licensing income and broadens the base of its materials ecosystem.
High voltage outside EVs
The range is 1200V, 2300V, and above 3300V. It targets grids, industry, and storage rather than the intensely price-competitive automotive 1200V segment.
Localization is the key
Magnachip will transfer the technology to and localize it at a Korean fab, bringing SiC design and manufacturing capability into Korea.
Power-infrastructure demand
Demand for high-voltage SiC is emerging in SST, STATCOM, HVDC, and other grid equipment.
Room to broaden cooperation
The companies are considering cooperation beyond SiC licensing, with details to be announced later.
Business implications and checkpoints
Teams sourcing or designing with high-voltage SiC should check: (1) the voltage range required by the grid or industrial equipment under consideration—1200V versus 2300V or above 3300V—and the capability range of candidate suppliers; (2) supply sources for high-voltage SiC, where fewer makers can serve the requirement than in automotive; and (3) how a licensed-and-localized supply model affects long-term continuity. Seeing SiC only as an EV component misses another demand base now developing in power and industry. This partnership is a concrete licensing example of that shift.