IN Brief:
- Bosch is creating a dedicated semiconductor division in 2028, targeting €5bn in annual sales by 2030.
- MEMS sensors, silicon carbide power devices, and ASICs underpin its expansion into robotics and external foundry services.
- Manufacturing investments cover Germany and the United States, alongside plans to expand testing capacity in Malaysia.
Bosch will create a dedicated Semiconductors division on 1 January 2028, transferring its chip operations out of Mobility Electronics while keeping the new unit within the Mobility business sector. The German technology group is targeting around €5bn in semiconductor sales by 2030 and intends to attract more customers outside its established automotive business, particularly in robotics and industrial automation.
The reorganisation changes how Bosch manages semiconductor development, manufacturing, and commercial relationships. Its chip activities currently sit alongside electronic control units and power electronics within Mobility Electronics. From January 2028, Mobility Electronics will concentrate on automotive electronic control units, while the separate Semiconductors division will be responsible for the semiconductor portfolio. Bosch has not proposed selling or independently listing the chip business.
MEMS sensors, silicon carbide power devices, and application-specific integrated circuits form the main technological foundations. The company already manufactures these technologies for products requiring motion and environmental sensing, electrical conversion, and electronic control. Their applications extend beyond vehicles because many industrial machines and robots also need precise measurement and dedicated control circuitry.
A MEMS sensor combines microscopic mechanical structures with electronic circuits that detect their movement or deformation. Depending on its design, the resulting device can measure quantities such as acceleration, rotation, or pressure. The manufacturing process must produce consistent mechanical dimensions and electrical characteristics, while the packaging protects the sensor without preventing it from responding to the quantity being measured.
Bosch’s sensor operations are particularly relevant to its plans for robotics. A robot can need several types of measurement simultaneously, including motion feedback and information about the physical environment. Sensors provide signals to control electronics, which use them to estimate the state of the machine and adjust its operation. The requirements of a specific robot depend on its actuators, operating conditions, safety functions, and control architecture.
Silicon carbide provides another part of the semiconductor portfolio. SiC power devices are used to switch and control electrical energy in demanding conversion applications, where their electrical properties can offer advantages over conventional silicon devices. Converter performance also depends on switching frequency, control circuitry, circuit layout, cooling, and the characteristics of the other components. The material alone does not determine the efficiency of the finished system.
Bosch has been investing in the wafer capacity required for these different products. It has spent approximately €3bn in recent years on semiconductor facilities in Dresden and Reutlingen, Germany. The operations use manufacturing processes suited to different types of semiconductor devices, reflecting the distinct requirements of sensors, integrated circuits, and power electronics. Process capability, wafer yield, and qualification determine how readily each technology can move into volume production.
The group is also spending around $2bn to equip its plant in Roseville, California, for specialised SiC chip manufacturing. Adding this capability expands the geographical footprint of its power semiconductor operations. In Malaysia, Bosch plans further expansion of its Penang semiconductor test centre by the middle of the 2030s. Testing remains necessary after wafer processing to identify devices that fail electrical or functional requirements before they enter customer assemblies.
Across research, development, and production, Bosch reports a network of approximately 40 semiconductor locations worldwide. The company also owns a 10% stake in European Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the Dresden venture established with TSMC, Infineon, and NXP. The investment provides a separate connection to Europe’s foundry manufacturing ecosystem, although Bosch’s stake should not be confused with ownership of that facility’s production capacity.
The new division will seek more business from external customers using Bosch’s manufacturing capabilities. Foundry work requires matching a customer’s design to the available semiconductor process, including its design rules, materials, device structures, and qualification procedures. A production line developed for one type of component cannot necessarily fabricate a different design without process changes or additional validation.
Opening manufacturing capacity also brings questions of long-term availability and engineering support. Customers building industrial or automotive electronics need dependable specifications, appropriate production volumes, and processes that remain sufficiently stable over the life of their products. Bosch will therefore have to connect its technical manufacturing capabilities with the commercial and product support expected by external semiconductor customers.
Robotics, industrial automation, consumer devices, and AI-related infrastructure are among the markets Bosch identifies for expansion, alongside automotive applications. Those sectors have differing design cycles and component requirements, from tightly integrated sensors to specialised power and control chips. Separate divisional management is intended to give the semiconductor business more direct responsibility for serving those demands while it continues existing automotive programmes.
The organisational change is scheduled for 2028 rather than taking effect immediately. Its €5bn target applies to annual semiconductor sales in 2030, with the production investments in Germany and the United States and the wider testing network forming part of the capacity behind that ambition. Bosch’s next steps will involve implementing the divisional structure and extending foundry relationships while the existing chip business remains within Mobility.
