After a series of large impairments in SiC businesses, where are wide bandgap devices, SiC and GaN, heading next? Looking only at earnings can make the market look stalled, but both the demand owners and the technology focus are moving. Who is buying SiC now, and where are suppliers trying to create differentiation? This article organizes the moves companies officially announced in the first half of 2026.
Who controls demand: deeper ties with China OEMs
China automakers are now driving SiC adoption. onsemi has expanded its strategic collaboration with NIO and is supplying EliteSiC technology for 900V EV platforms. NIO is moving its vehicle platforms from 400V to 900V, and onsemi's SiC supports that transition. The relationship is not a one-off order but a multi-year partnership reaching into the system level. At the 2026 Beijing Motor Show, multiple NIO models incorporating onsemi technology, including 900V-ready vehicles, were displayed. The supplied EliteSiC enhanced M3e technology reduces turn-on loss, Eon, by improving body-diode characteristics.
China OEM momentum is not limited to NIO. onsemi expanded its strategic collaboration with Geely Auto Group on April 28, 2026. onsemi's EliteSiC technology will be integrated into Geely's SEP, Super Electric Power, system based on the SEA-S architecture. SEA-S is a super-hybrid derivative of Geely's sustainable vehicle architecture and targets faster charging and longer range through 900V support. The front line of SiC adoption is moving inside China EV platforms.
After SiC comes GaN: collaboration with Innoscience
Suppliers are also looking beyond SiC toward GaN. onsemi signed a non-binding MOU with Innoscience on December 2, 2025 for GaN power devices. The collaboration includes wafer sourcing and combines Innoscience's mass-production experience in 200mm GaN-on-Silicon wafers with onsemi's packaging, driver, and system-integration capabilities. The goal is to expand low- and mid-voltage GaN portfolios and scale global manufacturing. The market base is broad: the 2030 TAM for GaN power devices is estimated at about $2.9 billion. How suppliers layer GaN on top of the customer base built in SiC is becoming the next competitive axis.
Technology focus 1: cutting losses
As demand moves back toward recovery, competition shifts from "can it be made" to "how efficiently can it run." SiC offers both high-speed switching and low loss compared with silicon devices, but the trade-off is high-frequency noise. Toshiba is addressing this point. Toshiba developed what it calls the world's first feedback-based active gate-driver technology with automatic drive-waveform generation for SiC devices. It also developed what it calls the world's first binary-weighted switched-capacitor low-loss gate-driver technology, which generates multilevel gate voltages with a small number of capacitors. These technologies target both EV inverters and data-center UPS applications and were presented at IEEE ISSCC 2026. The generational shift in gate drivers, not only the device itself, is becoming a focus of efficiency competition.
Technology focus 2: heat-removal packages
As power density rises, how heat is removed matters as much as device performance. ROHM started mass production in June 2026 of TSC3PAK, a top-side-cooling package for SiC MOSFETs. The structure dissipates heat from the top surface of the device, with external dimensions of 14.00 x 18.58 x 3.50mm. It provides 6.66mm creepage distance and supports AC peak 1200V. The lineup consists of six 750V products and six 1200V products, with applications ranging from automotive OBCs and electric compressors to PV inverters and server power supplies. Packaging technology is becoming a rate limiter for extracting SiC's real performance.
Demand broadens from EVs to data centers
SiC is not headed only to EVs. The clearest proof is Toshiba's 1200V trench-gate SiC MOSFET "TW007D120E," whose sample shipments began on May 20, 2026. Its primary application is power supply systems for next-generation AI data centers, with 7.0 mΩ (typ) on-resistance and 172 A drain current, cutting RDS(on)A by about 58% and improving the figure of merit (FOM) by about 52% versus the 3rd generation. The package is a QDPAK that supports top-side cooling. Together with Toshiba's gate-driver technology covering data-center UPS applications and ROHM listing server power supplies among TSC3PAK applications, data centers are emerging as a new demand pillar on the back of higher efficiency and higher power density in power systems. EV slowdown is often discussed, but the application base is actually widening.
Wide bandgap 2026: key issues
01
Demand led by China OEMs
onsemi is supplying EliteSiC for NIO's 400V-to-900V shift and integrating it into Geely's SEP system. The front line of SiC adoption is moving in China EVs.
02
GaN is the next axis
onsemi signed a GaN collaboration MOU with Innoscience, combining Innoscience's 200mm GaN-on-Si production with a market targeting a 2030 TAM of $2.9 billion.
03
Loss-reduction competition
Toshiba developed what it calls the world's first feedback active gate driver and related technologies to address SiC's speed, low-loss, and high-frequency-noise trade-off. Presented at ISSCC 2026.
04
Heat removal and wider applications
ROHM began mass production of top-side-cooled TSC3PAK, with 6.66mm creepage and 1200V support. Applications now extend from OBCs to server power supplies.
Business implications and checkpoints
If SiC is judged only by impairment-cycle financials, it is easy to miss how the demand owners and technology focus are shifting. From a sourcing and design perspective, the questions to check are: which regions and voltage platforms, 400V or 900V, target OEMs are moving toward; whether suppliers have a GaN path after SiC; whether the generation of adjacent technologies such as gate drivers and heat-removal packages fits internal requirements; and whether demand destinations are expanding beyond EVs into data centers. The market has not simply shrunk. It is moving into its next phase by changing owners and applications.
