Soitec Sees $200 Million Minimum Photonics-SOI Revenue as AI Data Center Demand Surges

French silicon substrate maker Soitec is signing multi-year supply agreements with customers and using fixed prices plus upfront deposits to lock in long-term orders as demand for silicon photonics wafers rises on AI data center growth, according to Jiemian News. Chief Executive Laurent Remont said the company is signing capacity reservation agreements with silicon photonics customers, with about 80% of them, more than 10 agreements in total, expected to be completed in the next one to two weeks and the rest within a month. Soitec said its Photonics-SOI product line can generate at least $200 million in revenue this year. Separately, GlobalWafers Chairwoman Doris Hsu said at a forum that double-digit percentage growth in the silicon wafer industry over the next two years is worth expecting, citing large-scale capacity expansion by customers and bottleneck-removal work at existing plants to speed up shipments. CITIC Securities said high-end specialty silicon wafers remain structurally tight, with Photonics-SOI and heavily doped wafers in the best supply-demand position, and that overseas leaders are continuing to secure multi-year orders and prepayments while industry capacity release lags AI computing demand growth.