Performance Showdown of 24 Domestic Analog Chip Makers: As the Market Recovers, Who Is Taking the Profits?

01
19 Firms Post Revenue Growth, but the Growth Drivers Have Shifted

Let’s first look at the overall performance.

Among the 24 companies, 19 posted year‑on‑year revenue growth, with 8 of them – SG Micro, 3PEAK, Novosense, Joulwatt, Bright Power, Kiwi Instruments, Fuman Micro, and Mingwei Electronics – achieving growth rates above 40%.

SG Micro remained the largest player by scale. In the first half of 2026, the company generated revenue of RMB 2.595 billion, up 42.70% year‑on‑year; its net profit attributable to shareholders reached RMB 420 million, a year‑on‑year increase of 109.28%. In terms of both revenue and net profit, it ranked first among the 24 companies.

Both core product lines contributed to growth: signal‑chain revenue came in at RMB 1.036 billion, up 53.13% year‑on‑year, while power‑management revenue was RMB 1.521 billion, up 35.45%. The company’s consolidated gross margin also improved to 51.84%.

This also highlights the notable advantage that platform‑based analog chip companies have shown in this cycle.

So‑called “platform‑based” companies typically have broader product portfolios, covering multiple categories such as signal chains and power management, while also serving more diversified downstream applications. Their growth often does not come from betting on a single hit product, but from simultaneous contributions across several product lines and end markets.

The highest revenue growth rate, however, belongs to Bright Power Semiconductor. In the first half of the year, the company posted revenue of RMB 1.452 billion, up 98.54% year‑on‑year, and net profit attributable to shareholders of RMB 87 million, a staggering 449.09% increase.

Of course, this near‑doubling of revenue was partly driven by contributions from new product lines added through acquisitions. But its legacy businesses are also recovering: LED lighting, power management, motor control, and high‑performance computing power supplies all registered growth.

Looking further down, Fuman Micro and Mingwei Electronics posted growth rates of 77.04% and 69.26%, respectively, mainly propelled by a recovery in businesses related to LED drivers, display drivers, and the like.

Nevertheless, if we focus solely on who grew the fastest, we might easily miss a more noteworthy trend in the analog chip sector this year: the fastest‑growing demand in the first half has already shifted from traditional consumer electronics toward AI and automotive applications.

First, AI is beginning to make its mark on analog chip revenues – most notably in optical‑communication AI and server power supplies.

3PEAK posted revenue of RMB 1.606 billion in the first half, up 69.19% year‑on‑year, of which signal‑chain revenue reached RMB 1.099 billion (+71.06%) and power‑management revenue RMB 506 million (+65.20%). The company clearly benefited from demand in optical modules, industrial, and automotive markets during the period. In particular, in the optical‑module market for high‑speed optical communications, multiple chip types – including comparators, logic devices, LDOs, DC/DC converters, and AFEs – have already achieved volume shipments, with AFE products covering 400G, 800G, and 1.6T applications.

Novosense generated revenue of RMB 2.540 billion in the first half, up 66.73% year‑on‑year, and achieved net profit attributable to shareholders of RMB 68 million, successfully returning to profitability. More importantly, its revenue mix tells the story: general‑energy applications accounted for 57.96%, automotive electronics 32.38%, and consumer electronics only 9.65%. The general‑energy segment includes industrial, new energy, and digital power supplies, among others. For AI server power applications, the company’s medium‑ and low‑voltage GaN driver ICs have already entered volume production and shipment.

This stands in stark contrast to another power management company, Southchip Technology. In the first half, Southchip posted revenue of RMB 1.546 billion, up 5.19% year‑on‑year. The company is similarly expanding into automotive, AI computing, and industrial markets, but its semi‑annual report shows that revenue from consumer electronics still accounted for 87.10%, while these new markets currently contribute only a relatively small share.

Both sets of companies are talking about AI, automotive, and industrial opportunities, but “already generating revenue” and “still in the planning stage” are two completely different things – and this can lead to significant divergence in growth rates among players.

Turning to on‑device AI: for most analog chip companies, the revenue contribution from on‑device AI has not yet been as pronounced as that from AI servers. However, the semi‑annual reports already show that some manufacturers are positioning themselves early. Awinic has identified AI glasses, robots, AI toys, and the like as key focus areas; Maxic’s sensor and power products have entered leading smart‑glasses customers and achieved volume deliveries; and Lixin has also explicitly listed on‑device AI as an emerging application direction.

Secondly, automotive is another increasingly evident source of incremental growth for domestic analog chips. Some manufacturers are now moving from “replacing a single chip” to “selling a complete product suite.”

In the past, domestic analog chip companies entering the automotive market tended to emphasize that a particular chip had passed AEC‑Q qualification. However, judging from this year’s semi‑annual reports, some companies are now building platform‑based product portfolios around automotive applications, introducing more product categories into the same customer and thereby increasing the value per vehicle.

Novosense has expanded from isolated chips to multiple product lines including sensors, power management, interface, and drivers. SG Micro, leveraging its comprehensive product matrix covering signal chains, power management, and more, continues to penetrate the automotive market and has developed over 600 automotive‑qualified chips across dozens of categories, including high‑side and low‑side drivers. 3PEAK is also expanding in areas such as high‑side switches, LDOs, DC/DC converters, and LiDAR.

02 Revenue Is Recovering, but Profits Aren't Following Suit

Among the 24 companies in the first half, 9 still reported net losses attributable to shareholders, indicating that the industry has not yet fully emerged from the pressure.

A typical case is Joulwatt. The company posted revenue of RMB 1.718 billion in the first half, up 44.72% year‑on‑year – a fairly solid growth rate – yet its net loss attributable to shareholders remained at RMB 520 million. The main reasons for the widening loss were a deliberate increase in R&D and marketing spending to support long‑term development, which drove up period expenses, alongside gross margin pressure from upstream cost pass‑through and intensifying industry competition.

Analog chips are somewhat akin to a “master craftsman’s trade.” It’s not enough to just fabricate a chip; you have to meticulously refine metrics such as precision, noise, power consumption, voltage tolerance, temperature drift, and stability – many of which are mutually constrained. In automotive and AI server applications, the demands on reliability and consistency are even higher, so R&D, validation, and customer qualification cycles tend to be longer.

Quite a few manufacturers are increasing their R&D investment even while still in the red.

For example, Joulwatt, Maxic, and Southchip Technology saw their R&D spending as a percentage of revenue rise to 36.84%, 30.38%, and 24.24%, respectively, in the first half. Awinic, despite a decline in revenue, still increased its R&D investment by 7.19%. Meanwhile, Lixin Micro is also expanding from consumer‑oriented power management into AI servers, AI storage, automotive, and industrial markets.

According to statistics from EE Times on 114 listed Chinese Fabless companies, the average R&D‑to‑revenue ratio was approximately 24.07% in 2025, compared with about 30.82% in 2024. Among them, 25 companies had R&D ratios above 30% in 2025, and 11 exceeded 50%. While most manufacturers continued to increase their absolute R&D spending, revenue grew even faster and R&D efficiency improved, moving the industry from a “cash‑burning expansion” phase into a stage of high‑quality development.

Beyond R&D investment, there is another source of pressure: upstream costs.

In the semi‑annual reports of many companies this year, similar descriptions have appeared – wafer costs, packaging and testing costs, and the like are rising. However, the problem is that upstream price hikes do not mean that analog chip companies can simply pass the full increase on to their customers.

As a result, gross margins show a clear divergence. SG Micro, Cellwise, Jinghua Micro, and 3PEAK all posted consolidated gross margins close to or exceeding 49%. Among them, SG Micro reached 51.84%, up 1.68 percentage points year‑on‑year; 3PEAK reached 49.00%, up 2.62 percentage points year‑on‑year; Kiwi Instruments' consolidated gross margin recovered from 29.58% in the same period last year to 33.18%; and Mingwei Electronics rose from 24.85% to 32.97%.

On the other hand, quite a few companies saw their gross margins decline. Southchip Technology's consolidated gross margin fell by 1.69 percentage points, Awinic by 5.07 percentage points, Xinpeng Micro by 2.23 percentage points, Bright Power by 2.42 percentage points, Cellwise by 1.26 percentage points, and Maxic by 2.32 percentage points.

Among them, Southchip Technology, Xinpeng Micro, Cellwise, and Maxic all mentioned in their semi‑annual reports tightening upstream supply or rising wafer and packaging/testing costs. Cellwise's report explicitly stated that the upstream cost increases have not yet been fully passed through to end‑user prices. Although Jinghua Micro saw decent revenue growth in medical and industrial segments, with its gross margin for its core business still hovering near 50%, the company also noted cost pressures from rising wafer foundry and packaging prices.

In other words, while demand for analog chips is recovering in this cycle, manufacturers' ability to pass on costs varies considerably.

Turning to inventory turnover days: among the 24 companies, most saw a decline in inventory turnover days, indicating faster inventory turnover. Only a few companies experienced an increase in turnover days.

Notes: Inventory turnover days for most companies are sourced from public financial indicators. Xihui Micro calculated based on publicly disclosed inventory turnover ratio; Meixin Sheng estimated using inventory and operating cost disclosed in financial reports.

Based on the procurement activities disclosed in the semi‑annual reports, some companies have already begun preparing for future demand.

Novosense recorded negative operating cash flow of RMB ‑710 million in the first half. The company explained that, on the one hand, it paid substantial capacity deposits to suppliers to secure upstream manufacturing capacity and meet rapidly growing customer demand; on the other hand, it also adjusted its inventory build‑up in line with order volumes and market expectations.

Injoinic also saw its operating cash flow turn negative in the first half, with one of the main reasons being proactive inventory accumulation in response to upstream capacity conditions; its inventory balance at the end of the reporting period also increased notably.

Overall, inventory efficiency across the analog chip sector is still improving, but some manufacturers have already shifted from “passive inventory destocking” to “proactive supply assurance.” This does not necessarily mean the industry is heading back into widespread shortages, but it does at least indicate that the inventory cycle has moved into a new phase.

03 Spot Market: Business Is Picking Up

Judging from the spot market feedback on domestic analog chips this year, the real‑world feel is actually more tangible than the "recovery" shown in financial reports: demand has indeed picked up. But at the same time, chips are no longer as easy to procure, and passing price increases smoothly down to end customers will still take some time.

One domestic chip agent said that in the first half of this year, their analog chip business maintained steady growth, with the main demand coming from PCB board manufacturers.

Another domestic chip agent, Grace, said that overall business in the first half was quite good, as her customers are mainly in the industrial sector. In the first half, original manufacturers extended lead times, and some products experienced shortages and price hikes. The price increases varied across different customers, averaging around 10‑plus percent. She believes that current orders are profitable, though overall profit margins are not particularly high – but customer demand has definitely picked up.

A distributor focusing primarily on analog brands also noted that business in the first half was generally solid, with both domestic and imported chips performing decently – and domestic chips offering more opportunities. However, those who really made money were often the ones who had stocked up in advance before the Chinese New Year. After the New Year, as upstream capacity tightened and sourcing became more difficult, procurement prices kept rising. For those replenishing later, profit margins had already thinned considerably.

The problem is that it takes time for upstream price hikes to be accepted by downstream customers. He mentioned that many clients, upon seeing a new quote, do not place orders immediately. Instead, they wait and compare prices, and only after a period of time—when they confirm that market prices have indeed risen—will they come back to make purchases.

Another distributor of domestic analog chips shared a similar observation. His clients are mainly in consumer electronics and industrial control, and both segments have been doing fairly well this year. After the Chinese New Year, he clearly felt that capacity had tightened and lead times had lengthened, with procurement prices generally rising across the board. However, it was not easy to directly raise prices for long‑standing customers, and consumer‑oriented clients, in particular, are very cost‑sensitive, with only limited room to accept price increases.

A third agent, Daniel, offered a more cautious assessment. In his view, the supply tightness seen this year for some domestic analog chips may be more attributable to upstream capacity constraints themselves, rather than a sudden surge in end‑market demand. At present, some original manufacturers have even begun to experience difficulty in confirming lead times and are proactively controlling shipments. Based on the end customers he deals with, demand has not seen any significant explosion. On the contrary, because multiple raw materials have risen in price simultaneously this year, some factories have even temporarily halted production due to shortages of certain components.

The broader backdrop remains the 8‑inch capacity and cost pressures. According to TrendForce data, power management ICs and power discrete devices are still heavily reliant on 8‑inch manufacturing platforms, while some major foundries are reducing or reallocating their 8‑inch capacity. From Q1 to Q2 2026, wafer foundry prices rose by an average of roughly 5% to 15%.

So, from a spot‑trading perspective, the domestic analog chip market has undergone fairly pronounced changes this year: demand is more robust than in the previous two years, supply for certain products is tightening, lead times are lengthening, and prices are trending upward. However, distribution channels have not consequently entered a high‑margin phase. For the spot market, what matters most right now is whether one can secure inventory in advance, how low the procurement cost can be, and how much of a price increase end customers are ultimately willing to accept.