china semiconductor industry

As the semiconductor industry shows strong signs of recovery, three major wafer foundries — TSMC, SMIC, and Hua Hong Semiconductor — have recently made significant moves that underscore their strategic direction for 2025 and beyond.

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Q4 2024 Financial Performance STMicroelectronics (ST) has released its Q4 2024 earnings report, revealing a 22.4% year-over-year decline in sales to $3.32 billion. The company’s gross margin dropped to 37.7%, while operating margin fell to 11.1%. Net income stood at $341 million, reflecting a 68.4% decline compared to the same quarter last year.

December 18, 2024 – Gree Electric Appliances has officially announced the completion and production commencement of its silicon carbide (SiC) chip factory, marking a significant milestone in its chip manufacturing ambitions. The announcement was made by Gree Chairwoman Dong Mingzhu during an episode of Zhen Zhi Zhuo Jian, where she declared, “Gree’s chips have succeeded.”

On December 16, 2024, Beijing announced plans to establish the Beijing Integrated Circuit Equipment Industry Investment and M&A Phase II Fund, with a total scale of 3 billion yuan. This move follows the success of the first phase, launched in 2020, and aims to further support the semiconductor industry’s development through mergers, acquisitions, and strategic investments.

On December 12th, Pioneer Precision Technology Co., Ltd. made its debut on the Shanghai Stock Exchange with an IPO price of 11.29 yuan per share. The stock opened at 85 yuan per share, marking a staggering 652% increase on its first trading day. The company’s market capitalization briefly reached 17.3 billion yuan.

The semiconductor industry has received promising news as HuaHong Group and ACM Research Shanghai both announced significant achievements. HuaHong has successfully launched production at its new 12-inch fab in Wuxi, while ACM Shanghai has made strides with its advanced semiconductor equipment validations.

In recent months, China's semiconductor industry has achieved significant milestones, with companies like Jingjia Micro, Loongson Technology, Gaoren Semiconductor, Linko Semiconductor, Zhongxin Wafer, Guoxin Technology, and Lanqi Technology making remarkable progress. These advancements span multiple critical semiconductor sectors, including GPUs, MCUs, clock chips, silicon carbide, and gallium oxide.

The localization of the semiconductor industry in China is a long-term proposition. Over recent years, the degree of localization across both upstream and downstream segments of China’s semiconductor industry chain has gradually improved. However, given the current volatile international and domestic situations, China’s semiconductor industry is being propelled to accelerate its development.

The Chinese semiconductor sector is experiencing a surge in new company formations across key areas such as chip design, manufacturing, equipment, packaging, and materials. This wave of startups is not only supported by significant investments from major companies like Zhongwei, Yangjie Technology, and Dinglong Co., but also bolstered by the injection of capital from advanced manufacturing industry investment funds. This development marks an important step in improving the supply chain and fostering technological independence in China’s semiconductor industry.

Driven by advancements in AI, IoT, 5G, and autonomous driving, the global demand for semiconductor equipment continues to grow, particularly in high-end chip manufacturing and advanced packaging. In response, multiple countries have ramped up investments to maintain competitiveness in the global semiconductor value chain. Notably, recent developments from China and Russia highlight their respective efforts to strengthen domestic capabilities in this critical industry.