Chinese SiC diode suppliers face cost and margin tests after volume production
Chinese silicon-carbide diode suppliers have established volume business in applications including solar power, energy storage and charging. That makes the market more concrete for international buyers assessing alternative sources. It also shifts the commercial question toward repeatable cost, inventory and customer adoption: a product can offer a switching advantage while its supplier still struggles to earn an acceptable margin.
The relevant product here is the standalone SiC Schottky diode, including junction-barrier Schottky, or JBS, structures. Its commercial outlook should be evaluated separately from SiC MOSFETs. Growth in electric vehicles or in the wider SiC industry does not translate automatically into the same growth rate for discrete diodes.
The converter topology determines the value of a standalone SiC diode
Compared with a silicon PN diode, a SiC Schottky device avoids the same minority-carrier reverse-recovery tail. That can reduce the commutation burden in a high-frequency converter. It does not eliminate capacitive charge, forward-conduction losses or thermal limits.
A unidirectional boost power-factor-correction stage illustrates the application. A SiC diode can help reduce switching-related losses, potentially supporting a different balance among frequency, efficiency and magnetic-component size. The rest of the converter still has to accommodate switching-device losses, electromagnetic interference and cooling.
Figure 1. Functional illustration of a standalone SiC diode in a unidirectional boost PFC stage. It is not a complete schematic or a customer bill of materials. Other topologies can change the requirement for the diode.
Active or synchronous rectification, bidirectional conversion and totem-pole PFC can alter the number and function of standalone diodes. This makes topology a necessary part of market analysis. Solar boost stages, chargers, server power supplies and appliances also operate under different electrical and cost constraints.
For a buyer, the meaningful benefit is therefore measured in the intended converter. A material advantage matters when it improves the system's performance or cost enough to justify the selected device and its qualification.
Domestic suppliers have different manufacturing roles and commercial maturity
Sanan, through businesses including Hunan Sanan, reports SiC diode production and supply into photovoltaic and energy-storage applications. Its subsidiary financial figures encompass a broader business than standalone diodes.
CR Micro participates in JBS design, manufacturing and packaging, and reports stable supply into solar, storage, charging and appliance applications. WeEn Semiconductors has a scaled SiC diode business that uses external wafer partners; its product-category margin disclosures provide unusually useful evidence about pricing and inventory.
Yangjie Technology has SiC Schottky discrete-device and module offerings. Ownership boundaries matter when reviewing its catalogue: MCC announced completion of its ownership transfer in June 2026, after which Yangjie no longer held ownership. MCC products should not be counted as Yangjie products simply because of their historical relationship.
Prisemi's H1 2026 disclosures include SiC Schottky diodes among newer product categories, without supporting an invented count of newly introduced models or a standalone revenue figure. Jiejie reports progress in 650 V SiC JBS development and automotive moulded-device R&D. That is development evidence, not an announcement that every such product has reached volume automotive supply.
JSCJ's July 2026 exhibition materials include a SiC series. They establish a recent product presentation, while leaving specific customer adoption to be verified separately.
Other Chinese suppliers also participate in this field. However, older product sheets and photographs are not used here to fill gaps in recent model-level evidence. A broader name list would not resolve the more important questions of present specifications, qualification and shipments.
Disclosed customers establish adoption within a defined product scope
Sanan's 2026 interim report describes volume SiC diode deliveries to customers including Sungrow, Sigenergy, GoodWe, Ginlong, Growatt, Sineng, AISWEI and Deye. These are relevant indicators of commercialisation in solar, storage and power applications.
Figure 2. Unaltered excerpt from page 16 of Sanan's 2026 interim report. English reading guide: read the SiC diode customer and shipment discussion separately from the adjacent MOSFET disclosure. The named relationships do not establish supply of every model or a customer's full purchasing share.
The disclosure does not establish that Sanan supplies all of a customer's relevant devices, nor that the same relationship applies to SiC MOSFETs. CR Micro's description of stable supply is similarly tied to its stated products and applications.
By contrast, Jiejie's disclosed JBS development progress should remain labelled as R&D progress. For sourcing decisions, the sequence from development to sampling, qualification and repeated volume orders matters more than grouping all announcements under “domestic supply.”
A recent international datasheet shows the conditions buyers need to match
Vishay's VS-4C06ET07THM3 provides a current reference: a fourth-generation 650 V, 6 A SiC Schottky diode in a two-lead TO-220AC package. Datasheet 97325, dated 18 February 2026, includes an automotive-qualification designation.
At a forward current of 6 A, its typical forward voltage is 1.3 V and maximum is 1.5 V at 25°C. At 150°C, the corresponding figures are 1.45 V typical and 1.75 V maximum. Typical capacitive charge, QC, is 16 nC at a reverse voltage of 400 V and a frequency of 1 MHz.
Figure 3. Original English parameter table from page 2 of Vishay datasheet 97325, dated 18 February 2026. Forward-voltage values use 6 A; the capacitive-charge figure has its own 400 V, 1 MHz conditions. Typical and maximum values are distinct.
The charge figure is a useful reminder that “no minority-carrier recovery tail” does not mean “no switching loss.” Junction capacitance still has to be charged and discharged in the circuit.
Comparisons with Chinese products need matching voltage and current ratings, package constraints, temperature, leakage, capacitive charge, thermal behavior and surge capability. Generation numbers are supplier-specific labels, not a common performance scale. A newer generation name alone cannot establish a superior device.
Product gross margin and subsidiary losses describe different economics
WeEn's SiC diode gross margin was negative 6.12% in 2024 and negative 2.78% in 2025. Its July 2026 verification opinion states that the margin became positive in January–May 2026, without disclosing an exact percentage for that period.
Figure 4. WeEn's disclosed SiC diode gross margins for 2024 and 2025. January–May 2026 is shown only as a qualitative statement because no exact margin was disclosed; there is no invented 2026 bar.
The company discusses inventory clearance and falling selling prices. Lower market prices for wafers do not immediately lower the cost of devices made from older, more expensive inventory. Selling prices can adjust before the benefit of cheaper inputs reaches the income statement.
The improvement toward positive gross margin therefore needs to be read alongside inventory turnover and product mix. It does not mean that the earlier negative margin was inconsistent with the technology's performance advantages.
Hunan Sanan reported approximately RMB 356 million of H1 2026 revenue and a net loss of RMB 208 million. These figures cover multiple power products and cannot be treated as a standalone SiC diode profit-and-loss account. Sanan also describes underutilisation, depreciation and amortisation pressures in its integrated-circuit business.
WeEn's diode gross margin and Hunan Sanan's net result consequently cannot form a direct profitability ranking. One is a product-category measure before the full set of company expenses; the other is a broader entity's bottom line.
Wafer scale creates potential savings that still depend on yield and utilisation
A larger wafer can provide more potential dies, but cost per accepted die does not fall automatically in proportion to wafer area. Defect density, epitaxial quality, process yield, edge losses, equipment depreciation and utilisation all affect the outcome.
Reducing die size introduces another set of compromises. It may lower material use while changing forward voltage, thermal behavior or surge capability. Qualification and testing add costs, and a small initial customer programme may take time to absorb them.
For Chinese suppliers, sustainable SiC diode earnings require several conditions to align: a useful role in the customer's topology, consistent manufacturing, manageable inventory and continued orders at a price that covers accepted-device cost. Volume production demonstrates commercial progress. Whether that progress becomes durable profit will be clearer in product margins, inventory movements and repeat customer demand than in capacity announcements alone.
