Which domestic chip manufacturers are worth joining?
Author | Yixiu Zhang Mubo
Produced by I Xinchao IC
ID I xinchaoIC
Every year in September and October, topics about the development trends of large companies and young people looking for jobs are always pushed to the top of the hot searches. In this year's low-pressure employment reality, the chip industry has also maintained its mobility:
● IBM Infrastructure decided to withdraw all R&D work in China for the IBM China Systems Center (CSL) and IBM China Development Center (CDL);
● Xiangdixian, a domestic GPU manufacturer with a valuation of over 15 billion, recently announced that the company is facing certain market adjustment pressure and plans to optimize its organizational structure and staffing;
● Mobileye, an Intel-controlled autonomous driving company, announced that it will end its internal development of the next generation of frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) lidar for autonomous driving systems;
● IC design giant MediaTek recently announced an employee dividend plan for the first half of 2024, with an average dividend of approximately NT$1.05 million per employee;
● Domestic artificial intelligence chip "unicorn" companies BiRen Technology and Shanghai Suiyuan officially announced the launch of listing guidance...
A two-polarized world is showing us a more concrete side of the chip industry.
When "not getting rich overnight" becomes a consensus in the chip industry
01
"What do you think of this year's market? Has the company's development met expectations?"
There are less than 110 days until the end of 2024. In a recent interview with Xinchao IC, more than two-thirds of company executives answered this question in the negative, and "sense of crisis" is a key word mentioned by many people in the chip industry . The business cycle law, like the historical cycle law, is affecting everyone indiscriminately.
In the era of dancing on the wind, the sense of crisis is often thin. At that time, chip manufacturers were equivalent to incubators for those who are financially free. According to Xindongxi, a total of 10 chip design companies were listed on the A-share market in 2021, with a total market value of more than 250 billion yuan. Nearly 20 billionaires were born in 4 months, among which the founder of GalaxyCore had a net worth of 20 billion in one day . In these stories of taking off, some people even have multiple offers in hand and can get an annual salary of nearly one million after graduation. But in recent years, the market has indeed changed a bit:
In recent years, frequent layoffs are no longer a "scandal" for chip manufacturers , but they are gradually building our fears. Before we have digested the news that Intel laid off 15,000 people and suspended dividends, we soon saw the news that Infineon laid off 1,400 people worldwide...
In recent years, applying for bankruptcy liquidation seems to have become more common . In the first half of this year alone, we have witnessed many bankruptcy liquidation incidents, including Huaxiaxin Company, Chongqing Xinmu Semiconductor, Shanghai Wusheng Semiconductor, Jiangsu Gelit Electronics Company, and Suzhou Longxin Microelectronics.
The temporary tightening of IPO policies and the cyclical downturn in the global semiconductor industry will make the path for semiconductor companies to go public and raise funds difficult in 2024. Companies with or without potential will have to slow down and accept more stringent market scrutiny.
The fundraising, investment, management and withdrawal of semiconductor projects have become even more difficult. Local governments are prohibited from giving listing incentives, which has also led to more topics worth discussing on how to develop the semiconductor industry in local areas . The cancellation of various subsidies and IPO incentives, the cancellation of three exemptions and two halvings, and even the retrospective investigation of previous subsidies have also rapidly reduced the heat accumulated by the local chip industry over the years.
When the wind blows, business expansion and recruitment are all new stories; when the wind slowly dies down, some stories may have become costs. After several springs, autumns, winters and summers, looking back at the present, it seems that the lack of growth and anxiety about the future have been transmitted to every large company and every person without distinction.
As the year draws to a close, it is time for companies to recognize reality and rebuild their sense of crisis. We will not discuss the right or wrong of these phenomena here, but they can help us understand more clearly that a deeper top-down and inside-out transformation is about to begin.
How to cure the "big company disease" is something that many chip manufacturers' executives are carefully considering. Layoffs or control team size are plans for many companies by the end of this year. Improving labor efficiency is also a fixed topic for every company now. And all of this concerns each of us.
With thousands or tens of thousands of employees, the impact of the increase in the number of people is obvious, and the investment of real money is also closely related to the future of the industry, the country and even the nation. Take Haiguang Information (688041.SH), one of the chip companies with the highest market value in the A-share market, as an example. According to the financial report, Haiguang Information will have 1,641 R&D personnel in 2023, with an average salary of 854,400 yuan per person, and the total salary of R&D personnel alone will exceed 780 million yuan; Haiguang's R&D investment in 2023 will be about 2.8 billion yuan, which even exceeds the fiscal revenue of 2.699 billion yuan in Yunfu City, Guangdong Province in the first half of the year.
Time is really like a silent, fast-running giant beast. We seem to be fighting against it all the time, and at the same time, we seem to be being devoured by it.
If you don't want to lie low, which chip manufacturers are worth joining?
02
Although it is said that the big factory is just a stop, whether it is long or short, you will eventually reach the destination. However, the external environment is ups and downs. In such a fast-paced era that makes everyone tired, standing on a less shaky ship may help you sail further.
Therefore, Xinchao IC has combined industry information, public reports and Zhaopin data to compile a list of more than 50 chip manufacturers with more than 1,000 employees and currently doing well for your reference. We look forward to discussing the industry's golden September and silver October with you.
The gears of the job market change in line with the industry's trends: in the chip industry in the past few years, many young people have seized the opportunity to accumulate wealth and rise in status; although the time when "standing on the lucky wind and getting a breeze will bring you great glory" has passed, individuals and companies complement and achieve each other, and we can still bet on those large companies and century-old enterprises with potential to make the industry develop better.
I believe that those of us who are truly in the chip industry can calculate the true value that is enough to support our families and beyond.
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