Episil chairman says SiC is not yet shifting from 6-inch to 8-inch

Episil's positioning is a deliberate de-narrativization move. While the industry hyps 200mm as irreversible, the company anchors reality with utilization data—30% to 90%—confirming 150mm epi wafers remain the volume workhorse through 2025-2026. This isn't technological conservatism; it's capital efficiency arithmetic. The real bottleneck isn't wafer diameter but substrate BPD density and epi uniformity. Wolfspeed's 200mm yield has yet to publicly match 150mm levels. Episil's strategy—adding 200mm capacity without retiring 150mm—effectively preserves 6-inch cash flow during the yield-ramp window while hedging against post-2027 cost competition. On the competitive front, STMicro's Catania 200mm line is already operational, and Coherent's 8-inch epi capacity is scaling. If Episil doesn't fully transition until 2027, it faces an awkward window: rivals' per-unit costs already amortized while its own 150mm depreciation is still running. Yet with EV traction SiC module ASPs declining 8-12% annually, 150mm's absolute cost advantage holds through 2026. The 12-24 month swing factor: Chinese substrate players (SICC, TankeBlue) breaking through on 200mm yield will directly compress Episil's pricing power. If 800V platform penetration misses 40% by 2026, the 150mm window extends another 12-18 months, making the "slow switch" the optimal play.