Soitec Secures Multi-Year Deals as AI Wafer Demand Drives Revenue Beyond $200 Million

Soitec locks customers into multi-year deals as AI wafer demand surges

Aug 31 (Reuters) - French chip materials maker Soitec (SOIT.PA), opens new tab is locking customers into multi-year supply agreements with deposits and fixed pricing as demand surges for the wafers used in AI data centre optics, its chief executive told Reuters. "We are using the current situation to find the right balance between the value we bring and the price we can ask," Laurent Remont said. Soitec told investors last month that photonics-SOI revenue would more than double this financial year from slightly above $100 million, without saying whether that was a base case or a ceiling. That implies more than $200 million, which Remont now calls "absolutely a floor." Demand for silicon photonics has surged as ⁠hyperscalers increasingly use optical connections to move data inside AI infrastructure, where copper links are becoming less attractive because of power and performance constraints. Soitec supplies the substrate underpinning almost all silicon photonics chips. UBS estimates it holds a 95% share of the market. The stock has almost quadrupled this year as demand for AI-related optical networking has accelerated. DEPOSITS AND CONTRACTS Around 80% of Soitec's capacity reservation agreements with photonics customers, more than 10 in total, should be signed within a week or two, with the remainder expected within a month, Remont said. The cash deposits have not yet been paid and will arrive in stages as customers ramp production. The contracts fix a price and require a deposit tied to committed demand. Customers that take the agreed volume get the deposit ⁠back; those that fall short forfeit it. Volumes above the agreed level trigger new pricing discussions. "That's a way for us to have our customer with skin in the game," Remont said. Customers must also share inventory data, a requirement aimed at preventing companies from over-ordering capacity to keep wafers away from competitors, he added. THREE LEVERS BEFORE A NEW FAB Soitec does not expect to need a new plant until around 2029, Remont ⁠said. The company is pursuing two expansion levers already: shifting output between businesses using shared underutilised facilities and installing additional tools in existing cleanroom space. "With that we will cover easily this year and next year," he said. The cleanroom capacity includes part of a French facility originally built for silicon ⁠carbide production, which was written down by 41 million euros ($47.7 million) last year. Soitec produced photonics-SOI only in France until five months ago. Since then, it has qualified customers at a facility in Singapore. A third lever, an unequipped building in Singapore, could add capacity ⁠within six to 12 months if required. "We can increase quickly without building a completely new fab, just equipping a building," Remont said. He sees no need for a U.S. plant "at this stage." Customers, he said, are "more desperate to get wafers than being too picky about where the location for production is." ($1 = 0.8590 euros) Reporting by Nathan Vifflin in Gdansk; Editing by Matt Scuffham Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Soitec: French ​chip materials maker Soitec locks customers into multi-year deals as AI wafer demand surges

French chip materials maker Soitec is locking customers into multi-year supply agreements with deposits and fixed pricing as demand surges for the wafers used in AI data centre optics, its chief executive told Reuters. "We are using the current situation to find the right balance between the value we bring and ⁠the ⁠price we can ask," Laurent Remont said. Soitec told investors last month that photonics-SOI revenue would more than double this financial year from slightly above $100 million, without saying whether that was a base case or a ceiling. That implies more than $200 million, which Remont now calls "absolutely a floor." Demand for silicon photonics has surged as hyperscalers increasingly use optical connections to move data inside AI infrastructure, where copper links are becoming less attractive because of power and performance constraints. Soitec supplies the substrate underpinning almost all silicon photonics chips. UBS estimates it holds a 95% share of the market. The stock ⁠has almost quadrupled this year as demand for AI-related optical networking has accelerated. DEPOSITS AND CONTRACTS Around 80% of Soitec's capacity reservation agreements with photonics customers, more than 10 in total, should be signed within a week ⁠or two, with the remainder expected within a month, Remont said. The cash deposits have not yet been paid and will arrive in stages as customers ramp production. The contracts fix a price and require a deposit tied to committed demand. Customers that take the agreed volume get the deposit back; those that fall short forfeit it. Volumes above the agreed level trigger new pricing discussions. "That's a way for us to have our customer with skin in the game," Remont said. Customers must also share inventory data, a requirement aimed at preventing companies from over-ordering capacity to keep wafers away from competitors, he added. THREE LEVERS BEFORE A NEW FAB Soitec does not expect to need a new plant until around 2029, Remont said. The company is pursuing two expansion levers already: shifting output between businesses using shared underutilised facilities and installing additional tools in existing cleanroom space. "With ⁠that we will cover easily this year and next year," he said. The cleanroom capacity includes part of a French facility originally built for silicon carbide production, which was written down by 41 million euros ($47.7 million) last year. Soitec produced photonics-SOI only in France until five months ago. Since then, it has qualified customers at a facility in Singapore. A third lever, an unequipped building in Singapore, could add capacity within six to 12 months if required. "We can increase quickly without building a completely new fab, just equipping a building," Remont said. He sees no need for a U.S. plant "at this stage." Customers, he said, are "more desperate to get wafers than being too picky about where the location for production is."

Soitec shares climb 6% as it locks in customers for AI wafer demand By Investing.com

Investing.com -- Soitec shares are trading around 6% higher on Monday after Reuters reported that the French chip materials maker said it is tying customers into multi-year supply agreements with deposits and fixed pricing to capture surging demand for AI data center optics. Around 80% of Soitec's capacity reservation agreements with photonics customers, more than 10 in total, should be signed within a week or two, chief executive Laurent Remont told Reuters, with the rest expected within a month. The contracts fix a price and require a deposit tied to committed demand, which customers recoup if they take the agreed volume and forfeit if they fall short. Volumes above the agreed level are said to trigger fresh pricing discussions. "That's a way for us to have our customer with skin in the game," Remont told Reuters, adding that customers must also share inventory data to prevent over-ordering aimed at keeping wafers from rivals. The company told investors last month that photonics-SOI revenue would more than double this financial year from slightly above $100 million, implying more than $200 million, a level Remont now calls "absolutely a floor," according to Reuters. Demand for silicon photonics has surged as hyperscalers increasingly use optical connections to move data inside AI infrastructure, where copper is constrained by power and performance. Soitec supplies the substrate underpinning almost all silicon photonics chips, and UBS estimates it holds a 95% market share. Remont said Soitec does not expect to need a new plant until around 2029, citing capacity levers across France and Singapore.