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Infineon Technologies

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This article is about the German corporation. For the racing circuit once named after Infineon, see Sonoma Raceway.
Infineon Technologies AG
Company type
Public
ISINDE0006231004 Edit this on Wikidata
IndustrySemiconductor
Founded1 April 1999; 27 years ago (1999-04-01)
Headquarters
Neubiberg
,
Germany
Key people
Products
RevenueDecrease €14.662 billion (2025)
Decrease €1.515 billion (2025)
Decrease €1.015 billion (2025)
Total assetsIncrease €30.47 billion (2025)
Total equityDecrease €17.051 billion (2025)
Number of employees
57,077 (2025)
Divisions
  • Automotive
  • Green Industrial Power
  • Power & Sensor Systems
  • Connected Secure Systems
Websitewww.infineon.com Edit this at Wikidata
Footnotes / references
[3]

Infineon Technologies AG is a German company which designs and manufactures semiconductor devices. It provides parts for automotive, power and security systems.[4] In 2023, Infineon was Germany's largest chip manufacturer,[5] and had roughly 57,000 employees in 2025.[3]

Infineon was spun-off from Siemens, a German engineering conglomerate in April 1999; one year later, it underwent the largest initial public offering (IPO) for a tech company to date despite Siemens retaining a 74 percent stake in the business. Infineon's early focus was on the memory sector, which proved to be both volatile and hotly contested by other firms. The company was investigated for its role in a conspiracy to fix the price DRAM during the mid-2000s, to which it pleaded guilty in December 2004. Separately, Infineon was also determined to have conspired with other manufacturers to manipulate smart card prices in the mid-2000s. Ultimately, the company's memory division was spun-out as Qimonda AG in 2006 as a result of Infineon's management choosing to concentrate on the production of automotive and industrial semiconductors. In 2009, Qimonda filed for bankruptcy, leading to lengthy legal action being taken against Infineon over its alleged involvement.

By 2011, Infineon's operations had been restructured into four distinct business areas: Automotive (ATV), Green Industrial Power (GIP), Power & Sensor Systems (PSS), and Connected Secure Systems (CSS). The 2010s were marked by numerous divestments and acquisitions. In 2011, Infineon sold its wireless business to Intel for US$1.4 billion, becoming Intel Mobile Communications (IMC), and purchased International Rectifier Corporation (IR) for roughly US$3 billion in 2014. In 2017, it sold its fab in Newport, Wales to Neptune 6, and acquired Cypress Semiconductor for $9.4 billion in 2019. Throughout the late 2010s and early 2020s, Infineon expanded its manufacturing capacity via the expansion of existing facilities as well as proposals to build new ones.

History

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Infineon Technologies was created as the result of a spin-off from the German engineering firm Siemens.[4] The spin-off, which formally took place on 1 April 1999, was claimed to be the largest high-tech spin-off in Europe. It had been Siemens semiconductor division, which had experienced considerable growth during the 1990s, rising from the 19th largest semiconductor manufacturer in the world in 1993 to the tenth largest in 1999.[6] In March 2020, Infineon's initial public offering (IPO) on both the Frankfurt and New York stock exchanges was met with strong institutional demand that led to the offering being 33 times over subscribed. Infineon raised in excess of $5 billion, despite Siemens having retained a 74 percent stake in the firm,[7][8] making it the world's largest tech IPO at the time.[9]

Initially, Infineon was primarily focused on the memory market, such as DRAM; this sector proved to be intensely competitive as well as volatile.[10] Seeking to expand its footprint in this market, in January 2004, Infineon purchased the Taiwanese chip designer ADMtek in exchange for $100 million; it was the company's first acquisition in Asia.[11][12] Shortly thereafter, a sweeping restructuring of Infineon was conducted that refocused the firm around the core businesses of automotive and industrial semiconductors; accordingly, Infineon's memory division was carved out as Qimonda AG, which remained a subsidiary of Infineon.[10] At its height, Qimonda employed about 13,500 people and had its own listing on the New York Stock Exchange. However, following a major downturn in chip prices amid the Great Recession, Qimonda filed for bankruptcy with the district court in Munich in January 2009.[13][14]

In July 2009, Infineon sold Wireline Communications to Golden Gate Capital to raise €250 million,[15] resulting in the creation of Lantiq.[16][17] Two years later, Infineon also sold off its wireless business segment to Intel in exchange for US$1.4 billion;[18] leading to the creation of Intel Mobile Communications (IMC).[19][20] In August 2014, Infineon agreed to buy the International Rectifier Corporation (IR) for roughly US$3 billion,[21] which was paid one-third by cash and two-thirds by credit line;[22] this acquisition was officially closed on 13 January 2015.[23]

In July 2015, it was reported that Infineon was looking to sell off its 200mm wafer fab in Newport, Wales;[24] it was ultimately sold to Neptune 6 in September 2017.[25] In July 2016, Infineon agreed to buy Wolfspeed, a company in North Carolina, from Cree Inc. in exchange for US$850 million in cash, although this deal was eventually stopped due to U.S. security concerns.[26][27] That same year, Infineon acquired the Dutch firm Innoluce, a specialist in MEMS and Lidar systems for use in autonomous cars.[28][29] During 2017, it joined the recently-created 5G Automotive Association.[30] In March 2018, Infineon sold its RF Power Business Unit to the US firm Cree Inc. in exchange for €345 million.[31][32] Infineon announced in June 2019 that it would acquire Cypress Semiconductor for $9.4 billion.[33][34][35]

Throughout the late 2010s and early 2020s, Infineon expanded its manufacturing capacity.[36] During the early 2020s, the firm promoted its plans to build two additional plants in Dresden, employing 3000 staff, at a cost of €5 billion and requested a subsidy of €920 million from the German government towards its construction; in February 2025, this was approved by the European Commission, having been financed through the €4 billion European Chips Act.[5][37]

In May 2023, Infineon acquired the "tiny machine learning" company Imagimob, a Stockholm, Sweden–based company with a platform for development and deployment of AI applications.[38] That same year, Infineon also acquired GaN Systems, headquartered in Ottawa, Canada.[39] In 2023, Infineon acted on an expansion plan by investing €5 billion into its semiconductor fab in Kulim, Malaysia.[40] In April 2025, Infineon bought Marvell Technology's automotive ethernet division in exchange for $2.5 billion.[41][42]

Markets

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Infineon markets semiconductors and systems for automotive, industrial, and multimarket sectors, as well as chip card and security products. Infineon has subsidiaries in the US and in the Asia-Pacific region, in Singapore, and Tokyo.

Infineon has a number of facilities in Europe, one in Dresden, Germany. Infineon's high power segment is in Warstein, Germany; Villach, Graz and Linz in Austria; Cegléd in Hungary; and Italy. It also operates R&D centers in France, Singapore, Romania, Taiwan, U.K., Ireland, Ukraine[43] and India, as well as fabrication units in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, China, Hungary, and USA, including in El Segundo and Austin, among others. There is a Shared Service Center in Porto, Portugal.[44] Infineon is listed in the DAX index of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. In 2023, it was Germany's largest chip manufacturer.[5] As of 2011, Infineon comprised four business areas after several restructurings:[45]

Automotive (ATV)

[edit]

Infineon provides semiconductor products for use in powertrains (engine and transmission control), comfort electronics (e.g., steering, shock absorbers, air conditioning), as well as in safety systems (ABS, airbags, ESP [electronic stability control]). The product portfolio includes microcontrollers, power semiconductors, and sensors.

Green Industrial Power (GIP)

[edit]

The industrial division of the company (named IPC until 2023)[46] includes power semiconductors and modules which are used for generation, transmission and consumption of electrical energy. Its application areas include control of electric drives for industrial applications and household appliances, modules for renewable energy production, conversion and transmission.

Power & Sensor Systems (PSS)

[edit]

The division, Power & Sensor Systems, sums up the business with semiconductor components for efficient power management or high-frequency applications. Those find application in lighting management systems and LED lighting, power supplies for servers, PCs, notebooks and consumer electronics, custom devices for peripheral devices, game consoles, applications in medical technology, high-frequency components having a protective function for communication and tuner systems and silicon MEMS microphones.

Connected Secure Systems (CSS)

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The CSS business provides microcontrollers for mobile phone SIM cards, payment cards, security chips and chips for passports, identity cards and other official documents. Infineon delivers a significant number of chips for the new German identity card.[47]

Controversy and litigation

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In 2004–2005, an investigation was carried out into a conspiracy to fix the price of DRAM between 1999 and 2002 that damaged competition and raised PC prices. In December 2004, Infineon agreed to enter a guilty plea, cooperate with the US government's investigation, and pay a $160 million fine over its role in the conspiracy.[48][49] During mid 2005, Infineon appointed the auditing specialist Ernst & Young to review internal monitoring and information systems after the resignation of an executive over alleged bribery in the sponsoring of motor-sport events.[50]

In 2010, legal action was filed by the insolvency administrator overseeing the insolvent Qimonda over Infineon's alleged role in its collapse;[51] this was concluded in a settlement of €753.5 million in 2024.[52][53]

In September 2014, the European Commission found that Infineon, Renesas and other smart card chip manufacturers had unlawfully coordinated their pricing between 2003 and 2005.[54][55]

In October 2017, it was reported that a code library developed by Infineon contained a ROCA vulnerability. Due to it being in widespread use in security products such as smartcards and TPMs (Trusted Platform Modules), enabled private keys to be inferred from public keys. As a result, all systems depending upon the privacy of such keys were vulnerable to compromise, such as identity theft or spoofing. Affected systems include 750,000 Estonian identity cards, 300,000 Slovak identity cards,[56] and computers that use Microsoft BitLocker drive encryption in conjunction with an affected TPM.[57] Immediately after the disclosure, Microsoft released a patch via Windows Update that works around the flaw.[58]

References

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  1. ^ "Chipmaker Infineon ready to spend billions on acquisitions – CEO". Reuters. 28 December 2022. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  2. ^ "Dr. Herbert Diess" (PDF). 17 February 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Key Figures 2025" (PDF). Infineon Technologies. Retrieved 24 November 2025.
  4. ^ a b AI, Antonio Funes | Translated by (10 December 2025). "Infineon: From Siemens Spin-off to Global Leader". all-about-industries.com. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
  5. ^ a b c Eddy, Melissa (27 March 2023). "Germany Wants More Chip Makers, but They Won't Come Cheap". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  6. ^ Shepard, Jeff (16 March 1999). "Siemens Semiconductors Spins Off to Become Infineon Tech". eepower.com.
  7. ^ Thomas, Matthew (13 March 2000). "Infineon share demand pushes IPO price to top range". electronicsweekly.com.
  8. ^ Robertson, Jack (3 November 2000). "Infineon doubles value in IPO, topping $5 billion". eetimes.com.
  9. ^ "Infineon's $21.26 Billion Issue Is World's Largest Technology IPO". Wall Street Journal. 13 March 2000.
  10. ^ a b Flaherty, Nick (21 February 2025). "Infineon at 25". eenewseurope.com.
  11. ^ "Infineon to Acquire Taiwanese Chip Designer ADMtek – First Acquisition in Asia Strengthens Infineon's Communications Business". Infineon Technologies.
  12. ^ "Infineon Buys ADMtek for US$100 Million in Cash". Taipei Times. 29 January 2004.
  13. ^ "NYSE Suspends Qimonda AG, Moves to Remove from the List". New York Stock Exchange. 23 January 2009. Archived from the original on 8 March 2013.
  14. ^ Frey, George (23 January 2009). "Germany's Qimonda Declares Bankruptcy". manufacturing.net. Associated Press. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011.
  15. ^ "Infineon Verkauft Wireline Communications Geschäft a US-Investor" [Infineon Sells Wireline Communications Business to US Investor] (in German). Infineon Technologies. Archived from the original on 4 September 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  16. ^ "Infineon Wireline Wird Lantiq" [Infineon Wireline Becomes Lantiq]. ElektronikNet.de (in German). Archived from the original on 8 September 2012.
  17. ^ Hack, Jens; ten Wolde, Harro (2 February 2015). "Intel Buys Former Infineon 'Internet of Things' Chip Unit Lantiq". Reuters. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  18. ^ "Intel to Acquire Infineon's Wireless Solutions Business". Infineon Technologies. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  19. ^ "Infineon schließt Verkauf des Mobilfunkgeschäfts an Intel ab – Neues Unternehmen Intel Mobile Communications GMBH nimmt Betrieb auf" [Infineon completes sale of mobile phone business to Intel – New company Intel Mobile Communications GmbH starts operations]. Infineon Technologies. Archived from the original on 4 September 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  20. ^ "Intel Buys Wireless Solutions Section from Infineon". Infineon Technologies. Archived from the original on 4 September 2014. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
  21. ^ "Infineon to Buy International Rectifier, a Chip Maker, for $3 Billion". Dealbook.nytimes.com. 20 August 2014.
  22. ^ Sherman, Alex; Thomson, Amy; Webb, Alex (21 August 2014). "Infineon to Buy International Rectifier for $3 Billion". Bloomberg News.
  23. ^ "Infineon Technologies AG successfully acquires International Rectifier". Archived from the original on 22 January 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2015.
  24. ^ Clarke, Peter (5 July 2015). "Infineon Seeks Buyer for Welsh Wafer Fab". eetimes.com.
  25. ^ "Infineon Technologies to sell Newport manufacturing site to Neptune 6 Ltd". cieonline.co.uk. 22 September 2017.
  26. ^ Geiger, Friedrich; Henning, Eyk (14 July 2016). "Infineon to Buy Cree's Wolfspeed Unit for $850 Million". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  27. ^ Sadam, Rishika (16 February 2017). Kalluvila, Sriraj (ed.). "Cree Ends Wolfspeed Deal with Infineon over U.S. Security Concerns". Reuters. Bengaluru. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  28. ^ "Infineon acquires Innoluce BV to enhance automated and connected driving technologies". iot-now.com. 14 October 2016.
  29. ^ Manners, David (25 November 2016). "Infineon acquisition aims at mass deployment of Lidar". electronicsweekly.com.
  30. ^ Hammerschmidt, Christoph (12 April 2017). "Infineon joins 5G Automotive Association". eenewseurope.com.
  31. ^ "Cree Acquires Infineon's RF Business for €345 Million". everything RF. Retrieved 7 March 2018.
  32. ^ Manners, David (6 March 2018). "Cree buys Infineon RF power business". electronicsweekly.com.
  33. ^ "Infineon Nears Deal to Buy Cypress Semiconductor". Bloomberg. 3 June 2019. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  34. ^ "Infineon completes acquisition of Cypress". DIGITIMES. 17 April 2020. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  35. ^ "Company Presentation June 2020" (PDF). Infineon Technologies. 9 June 2020. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 June 2020.
  36. ^ Flaherty, Nick (17 September 2021). "High stakes in the chip shortage". eenewseurope.com.
  37. ^ Jowitt, Tom (20 February 2025). "EU Approves Germany's €920m Aid For Infineon Plant". silicon.co.uk.
  38. ^ "Infineon acquires Tiny Machine Learning leader Imagimob to strengthen its offering in embedded AI solutions". Bloomberg.com. 16 May 2023. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  39. ^ "Infineon Completes Acquisition of GaN Systems, Becoming a Leading GaN Power House". Infineon Technologies. 25 October 2023.
  40. ^ "German semiconductor firm Infineon invests almost RM25b in Malaysia, expands fab in Kulim". Microsoft Start. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  41. ^ "Marvell to Sell Automotive Ethernet Business to Infineon for $2.5 Billion in Cash". Marvell Technology. Retrieved 16 June 2025.
  42. ^ "Infineon acquires Marvell's automotive Ethernet business". engineering.com. 15 August 2025.
  43. ^ "Infineon Site in Ukraine". Infineon Technologies. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  44. ^ "Infineon Technologies Shared Service Center". Archived from the original on 4 July 2023. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  45. ^ "Arunjai Mittal Becomes Management Board Member Responsible for Sales, Marketing and Strategy Development at Infineon - Industrial & Multimarket Business Divided into Two Divisions". Infineon Technologies. 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  46. ^ "Green Industrial Power: Infineon's Decarbonization Initiative". PowerElectronicsNews.com.
  47. ^ "Infineon chips for the new identity cards" (in German). Computerwoche.de. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  48. ^ "Infineon to admit DRAM price fixing Dawn Kawamoto". cnet.com. 15 September 2004.
  49. ^ "FOUR INFINEON TECHNOLOGIES EXECUTIVES AGREE TO PLEAD GUILTY IN INTERNATIONAL DRAM PRICE-FIXING CONSPIRACY". US Department of Justice. 2 December 2004.
  50. ^ Jenkins, Patrick; Williamson, Hugh (28 July 2005). "GERMANY: Germany ponders extent of corruption as heads roll". Financial Times.
  51. ^ Clarke, Peter (12 February 2010). "Qimonda administrator sues Infineon". eetimes.com.
  52. ^ Bandhakavi, Swagath (23 August 2024). "Infineon resolves decade-long Qimonda dispute with €753.5m settlement". techmonitor.ai.
  53. ^ Manners, David (23 August 2024). "Infineon settles Qimonda claims". electronicsweekly.com.
  54. ^ "Antitrust: Commission fines smart card chips producers € 138 million for cartel". European Commission. 3 September 2014.
  55. ^ "Time is ticking: judgment for Infineon and Renesas confirms application of limitation rules to cartel damages claims". freshfields.com. 23 February 2022.
  56. ^ Gavin, Shoebridge (18 October 2017). "Slovak ID card security risk exposed". RTVS. Retrieved 18 October 2017.
  57. ^ Goodin, Dan (16 October 2017). "Millions of High-Security Crypto Keys Crippled by Newly Discovered Flaw". Ars Technica. Condé Nast. Retrieved 11 June 2025.
  58. ^ Busvine, Douglas (16 October 2017). "Infineon says has fixed encryption flaw found by researchers". Reuters. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
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