Visual China Data Map

"The integrated circuit industry is an unstoppable highway." Jing Xin, general manager of Xinmou Market Information Consulting Co., Ltd., said when reviewing the development of Wuxi's integrated circuit industry in 2023 to surging news reporters.

in the second half of 2022, surging news reporters visited a number of Wuxi integrated circuit enterprises and related industrial parks and associations to investigate the evolution of Wuxi integrated circuit industry in the past decade. [For details, please refer to "Made in China Ten Years of Evolution | Wuxi: How the Pearl of Taihu Lake Makes" Core Fire "Start a Prairie Fire"].

What kind of 2023 has Wuxi's integrated circuit industry gone through? What are the current development status? What opportunities and challenges are facing? What are the new expectations for 2024? Before the National Two Sessions in 2024, The Paper visited some Wuxi integrated circuit companies.

Industry heat is slowly rising

"The overall development of Wuxi's integrated circuit industry has been relatively stable in the past year." Jing Xin said that as far as some listed companies in Wuxi High-tech Zone are concerned, their performance in the first half of 2023 fell short of expectations, but rebounded in the second half of the year and achieved a small growth throughout the year. With the gradual recovery of some application terminal markets in the second half of the year, the industry heat is slowly increasing.

Jing Xin said, for example, that the annual revenue of some integrated circuit companies in 2023 is expected to be lower than that of the previous year. Although the shipment volume is higher than that of the previous year, the revenue and profit have not yet reached the expectations due to product price adjustment and other reasons. Companies are facing a decline in market demand for products such as PCs and mobile phones, but shipments of terminal products in the industrial and automotive sectors continue to grow. In the new year, these two areas are expected to continue to grow, and mobile terminals such as mobile phones are also expected to rebound.

From the perspective of the supply chain, Jing Xin mentioned that in the first half of last year, many integrated circuit design companies were substantially destocking and reducing new orders. The order volume of the foundry dropped sharply, resulting in the low capacity utilization rate of the foundry. By the second half of the year, especially around October, the inventory of some integrated circuit design companies reached a relatively reasonable level, and began to gradually enter a new round of inventory replenishment process, so the capacity utilization rate of wafer foundries has further rebounded in the second half of the year.

Looking at the leading enterprises in the field of integrated circuits, 2023 is a year for CR Microelectronics to devote itself to research and development to seek market increment, and it is also a year to gain momentum and reshape the future.

Wu Guoyi, director, chief financial officer and secretary of the board of China resources microelectronics co., ltd. (China resources micro, 688396.SH), said that in the face of the complex external market environment, the company has worked hard to deepen the regional layout of Liangjiang and three places, focusing on the improvement of the integration capability of chip design, wafer manufacturing, mask manufacturing and packaging and testing of the whole industrial chain. While maintaining stable production capacity, the company has continuously adjusted its product structure, customer structure and terminal application structure, continuously improved the proportion of new energy and vehicle industry, and actively laid out the potential track.

China Resources Microelectronics Co., Ltd. Headquarters Source: China Resources Microelectronics

Adhere to innovation-driven core

on February 27, Wuxi "core fire" integrated circuit entrepreneurs held a new year tea party.

at the meeting, the heads of many integrated circuit enterprises such as Wuxi xinpeng microelectronics co., ltd. (xinpeng micro, 688508.SH) and Wuxi lixin microelectronics co., ltd. (lixin micro, 688601.SH) agreed that in order to realize the high-quality development of the integrated circuit industry in Wuxi high-tech zone, we must adhere to innovation-driven as the core, increase R & D investment, improve product quality and technical level, and strengthen cooperation between upstream and upstream enterprises, and form a good situation of complementing each other's advantages and developing together.

In 2023, the scale of the integrated circuit industry in Wuxi High-tech Zone exceeded 155.4 billion yuan, accounting for 75% of the city, and maintaining double-digit growth. It is the main position for the development of the integrated circuit industry in Wuxi.

When it comes to the integrated circuit industry, the topic cannot be separated from independent innovation.

Jing Xin believes that the barriers in the integrated circuit industry are very high, and there must be self-innovation to avoid some intellectual property risks. In this process, it is necessary to explore new applications. For example, chip products should be combined with terminal application scenarios, equipment materials and components in the supply chain should be closely combined with the actual needs of wafer manufacturing plants and packaging and testing plants, and positive feedback should be obtained from the product side to iterate and upgrade products.

Wu Guoyi said that technological innovation is the key to transformation and upgrading. Only by continuously developing advanced technology and designing high-performance chip products can the overall competitiveness of the industry be enhanced. At the same time, cooperation between upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain is also essential. By strengthening cooperation, a closer industrial ecology can be formed, the overall efficiency of the industrial chain can be improved, production costs can be reduced, and product quality can be improved.

Seize new opportunities

2023, some integrated circuit industry insiders have clearly seen the new direction of industrial upgrading, new outlet.

"Wuxi integrated circuit companies that focus on the mobile phone terminal market feel that some applications of artificial intelligence are gradually being introduced into mobile phones." Jing Xin said that this means that the intelligence of mobile phones will be further improved in the future, and it will also become a new round of growth point to stimulate the demand of the mobile phone market, thereby driving the revenue or profit of chip companies in the mobile phone industry chain.

Wuxi Xinpeng Microelectronics Co., Ltd. Source: Xinpeng Micro

Zhang Lixin, chairman of Wuxi Xinpeng Microelectronics Co., Ltd. (Xinpeng Micro, 688508.SH), said that after the company goes public in 2020, it will continue to explore new market applications based on the advantages of the original home appliance market.

Zhang Lixin mentioned that Xinpengwei was the first power chip company to carry out localization substitution in the field of smart small household appliances. In recent years, it has also begun to carry out localization substitution in large quantities in the field of white electricity (referring to household appliances such as air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, etc.). Overall, the home appliance market maintained steady growth in 2023, and the company's business in the home appliance market also maintained steady growth.

Core Pengwei's other standard power supply product line has faced greater growth pressure in the past two years due to market fluctuations and declining exports. In this regard, Zhang Lixin said that the company is also actively adjusting its layout, mainly targeting some leading mobile phone manufacturers, developing products and markets in the fast charging market, and has made some breakthroughs.

Industrial application markets such as new energy and high-performance computing are the key investment directions of Core Pengwei in the past two years. Zhang Lixin believes that new energy vehicles have brought huge new application markets to power integrated circuits. Unlike traditional cars that use fuel as power, new energy vehicles use electricity as power, which involves a large amount of electrical energy conversion. Various power integrated circuit chips will be used, and the proportion of silicon in the vehicle is greatly increased.

At the same time, with the explosive growth of artificial intelligence, the transmission and processing of massive images and videos, the demand for high-performance computing power is rapidly increasing, and the demand for power management products matched with high-performance computing units will also grow rapidly.

Wuxi Xinpeng Microelectronics Co., Ltd. Source: Xinpeng Micro

Wu Guoyi believes that with the rapid development of 5G, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things and other technologies, the integrated circuit industry is undergoing a new round of transformation and upgrading. These high-growth technologies not only promote the progress and innovation of integrated circuit technology, but also Promote the coordinated development of the industrial chain. Through mergers and acquisitions, cooperation and other ways, enterprises strengthen the coordination in materials, equipment, design, manufacturing, packaging and testing, in order to cope with the increasingly fierce market competition.

"With the continuous development and popularization of Internet of Things technology, the demand for integrated circuits will continue to grow." Wu Guoyi said that the company's breakthroughs and innovations in the field of integrated circuits will strongly support the development of the Internet of Things industry in Wuxi, and will also benefit from the rapid development of the Internet of Things industry.

Jing Xin pointed out that integrated circuits are a "fast and slow" industry. It has the long tail effect of products, and there is still room for development in 50 and 100 years. At the same time, it is very fast in the iteration of technical products. Develop new applications, new processes, and new materials.

"We must have confidence in the integrated circuit industry, and we must persevere in promoting and developing it. Both the country and the local government must adhere to it. Persistence will lead to development." Jing Xin said.