Munich (Reuters) - Infineon is massively increasing its investments in its plant in Kulim, Malaysia.

Over the next five years, up to an additional five billion euros will be spent on construction, the company announced on Thursday. This will create the world's largest factory for silicon carbide power semiconductors on 200 millimeter wafers. "With the expansion of Kulim, we are securing our leading position in this market," said Infineon CEO Jochen Hanebeck. The company expects the expanded plant - together with the plant in Villach, Austria - to generate annual revenues of seven billion euros.

The first customers for the semiconductors have already been found: Among the car manufacturers are Ford as well as SAIC and Chery from China, in addition to SolarEdge and three leading Chinese photovoltaic manufacturers. Customer commitments totaling five billion euros and one billion euros in advance payments have been received. Infineon's goal is to achieve a market share of 30 percent for silicon carbide semiconductors by the end of the decade.

SiC semiconductors are more expensive and more difficult to manufacture than conventional silicon chips, but are more powerful when it comes to the fast charging of electric cars or the operation of wind turbines, for example. Production on 200 millimeter wafers - round plates with a diameter of 20 centimeters - promises cost advantages because more chips fit on one wafer. However, the production of the wafers is considered complicated.

The plans were less well received on the stock market: In pre-market trading at Lang & Schwarz, Infineon shares fell 2.7 percent, bringing up the rear of the DAX.

In the third quarter of the fiscal year to the end of September, Infineon generated revenues of 4.1 billion euros, one percent less than in the previous quarter. The important segment result fell by ten percent to 1.1 billion euros, while after taxes Infineon earned one percent more at 831 million euros. Hanebeck said that developments in the semiconductor market continue to show a mixed picture. "On the one hand, electromobility and renewable energies as well as the associated application areas are ensuring stable high demand. On the other hand, demand for consumer applications such as PCs and smartphones remains low."

Infineon generates a large part of its turnover with power semiconductors, which are required in electric cars and solar systems, among other things. Other semiconductor manufacturers such as Qualcomm and AMD have recently suffered from weak PC sales.

(Report by Christina Amann; edited by Sabine Wollrab. If you have any questions, please contact our editorial team at Berlin.Newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or Frankfurt.Newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets)