RF chip companies are intensively listed!

A number of RF front-end chip manufacturers are smoothly advancing their listings. The application for listing on the Sci-tech Innovation Board has been accepted by Haoda Electronics and Weijie Chuangxin. The A-share listing of Feixiang Technology has been listed for guidance and filing, and Guobo Electronics has completed the guidance for listing.

Corporate financing is also proceeding smoothly. Super Material Information has completed the A1, A2 and A3 rounds of financing from March this year to now; the industrialization construction project is also advancing rapidly, and the Wuxi Xinzhuo Semiconductor Industrialization Construction Project of Zhuoshengwei has recently been launched. Announced the completion of the topping; Sanan Integration also reported that SAW filters had won orders from Fuzhikang, and Kuangda Technology actively communicated its goal of becoming a leader in the SAW filter industry in China.

The RF front-end is a module located between the RF transceiver and the antenna, including RF power amplifiers, RF switches, filters and duplexers, low noise amplifiers, and other RF components. From the perspective of value, the filter accounts for a relatively large amount, about 53 %, followed by power amplifiers, radio frequency switches, which accounted for 33% and 7%, and others accounted for 7%.

In the past, RF front-end chips were mostly monopolized by foreign giants. In recent years, trade restrictions have occurred frequently. Domestic downstream companies worry about the security of the supply chain and are more actively adopting domestic chips. With the support of policies and the market, many excellent RF chips Enterprises have gradually developed. However, as a whole, there is still a gap with international giants. Therefore, in order to achieve greater breakthroughs in the field of domestic radio frequency chips, it is necessary to continuously increase investment and actively improve technical strength and competitiveness.

RF chip manufacturers accelerate listing and financing, invest in R&D and capacity building

The chip industry is capital, talent, and technology-intensive industry. In order to achieve breakthroughs, it needs to increase investment in talents and R&D, and capacity construction also consumes capital. Therefore, if chip companies want to develop, it is the key to have sufficient capital investment. For companies with sufficient conditions, obtaining financing through listing is a very feasible way.

At present, the listing work is carried out by Haoda Electronics, Weijie Chuangxin, Feixiang Technology, and Guobo Electronics. The RF chip companies that have been listed include Zhuoshengwei, Maijie Technology, Xinwei Communication, Kuanda Technology (Xinto Micro), etc.

Haoda Electronics is mainly engaged in the research and development, design, production, and sales of surface acoustic wave radio frequency chips. It has both chip design technology, manufacturing and packaging and testing processes, and standardized mass production and shipment capabilities. The main products include filters, duplexers, and resonators It is widely used in radio frequency communication-related fields such as mobile phones, communication base stations, and the Internet of Things.

Not long ago, Haoda Electronics was accepted for listing on the Science and Technology Innovation Board. According to the prospectus, the company plans to raise 960 million yuan in the public offering of shares. It plans to invest about 653 million yuan in the raised funds for the expansion and construction of surface acoustic filters. 107 million yuan was invested in the construction project of the R&D center.

At present, the company's main products surface acoustic wave filters, duplexers and resonators have been widely used in the communication field with a frequency range of 30KHz-3.6GHz, with a wide range of applicable frequency bands and a wide variety of products.

Haoda Electronics' surface acoustic wave filters and duplexers have been approved by well-known mobile phone terminal and ODM manufacturers, communication equipment manufacturers, and wireless communication module manufacturers such as Xiaomi, OPPO, Huawei, Huaqin, Longcheer, ZTE, Guanghetong, etc. To verify and achieve mass production and sales, the company said that under the monopoly of leading foreign manufacturers, the company's market share of surface acoustic wave filters and duplexers has continued to increase.

Weijie Chuangxin mainly provides customers with RF power amplifier module products, as well as integrated circuit products such as RF switch chips and Wi-Fi RF front-end modules. Among them, RF power amplifier module products account for 99% of total operating income.

Weijie Chuangxin received its application for listing on the Science and Technology Innovation Board in mid-June this year and is currently in the inquiry stage. According to the prospectus, the company plans to raise 2.487 billion yuan in this initial public offering, and it plans to raise 1.308 billion yuan. Yuantou invested in integrated circuit production and testing projects, and 677 million yuan was invested in R&D center construction projects.

According to the type and quantity of integrated chips, PA (power amplifier) ​​modules can be further divided into low, medium, and high integration modules. At present, the mid-to-high-end flagship models of smartphones are increasingly adopting modular RF front-end solutions. Common PA modules that integrate multiple devices include SMSB/SMMB PA, MMMB PA, Tx Module, L-PAMiD, and L-PAMiF.

Wei Jie Chuangxin said that after the development of communication technology and the company’s years of R&D investment and product iteration, the integration of the company’s PA products has been continuously improved. Starting from discrete PA devices, it has developed to a PA model with integrated levels of MMMB PA and TxM. Mainly group products. The company's MMMB PA and TxM products integrate multiple self-developed discrete PA devices and radio frequency switches. In addition, the company has achieved mass production and sales on highly integrated L-PAMiF and other products.

VJ Chuangxin’s RF power amplifier module products have been applied to smartphone brand companies such as Xiaomi, OPPO, and Vivo, as well as leading ODM manufacturers such as Huaqin, Longcheer Technology, and Wingtech. During the reporting period, 4G RF power amplifiers The cumulative product shipments exceed 800 million, ranking first among domestic manufacturers, and mass production and sales of 5G RF power amplifier modules will be realized in early 2020.

The predecessor of Feixiang Technology is the Radio Frequency Division of National Technology. Its products cover 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, WiFi, IoT power amplifier chips, switch chips, filter chips, and RF front-end module products, of which more than 80% of the products sold It is a 4G radio frequency chip, and its customers cover many domestic brand mobile phone and ODM manufacturers. However, in June last year, the company also officially released a complete 5G radio frequency front-end solution. The company has now launched an A-share listing and conducted counseling and filing with the Shenzhen Securities Regulatory Bureau on June 11, 2021.

Guobo Electronics is affiliated with the 55 Institute of China Electronics Technology and has recently completed the sci-tech innovation board listing guidance. The company is mainly engaged in the development of RF front-end chips. The main products are RF switches, attenuators, and RF front-end FEMs, which are mainly used in mobile communications. Base stations and terminals. The company has become a long-term supplier of mobile communication equipment manufacturers such as Huawei, ZTE, and Datang, as well as operators such as China Mobile and China Telecom. The GaAs/SOI radio frequency switch and antenna tuner products for Huawei terminal and other mobile phone manufacturers have been realized Covering a full range of products from customers, with an annual shipment of 150 million pieces.

RF chip companies are actively financing, project construction is speeding up, and shipments are rising rapidly

Recently, in the RF chip industry, in addition to the promotion of many companies to go public, financing, project construction, and signing of orders to expand market share have also fallen. Chaocai Information recently announced the completion of the A3 round of financing, led by the old shareholder Dachen Caizhi, and other investors such as Silk Road Huachuang. The company said that this round of financing is mainly used for new product development and company operations. Chaocai Information has completed the A1 and A2 rounds of financing in March and May of this year, respectively.

Chaocai Information focuses on the R&D and sales of high-performance RF front-end SAW filter products, covering Tx filters and duplexers in the fields of 4G, 5G, and the Internet of Things. The company has an international high-end R&D team, international advanced production and packaging technology, mature production and preparation equipment, strong RF front-end technology design and integration capabilities, and a full set of own intellectual property rights. At present, the Band 40 Post PA SAW filter has passed the test of mobile phone manufacturers.

Zhuosheng Microchip Semiconductor's industrialization construction project is rapidly advancing, and the topping-out ceremony was held at the end of June this year. The project started on December 25 last year. Zhuo Shengwei stated that in order to meet the company's strategic development plan and market demand brought about by the continuous expansion of the terminal application market, and to further expand the company's competitiveness in the field of RF front-end, it signed a cooperation agreement with the management committee of the Wuxi Liyuan Economic Development Zone in Jiangsu Province. Carry out the industrialization construction project of Xinzhuo Semiconductor to achieve the industrialization goal of radiofrequency SAW filter chips and modules. The total investment of the project is 3.5 billion yuan.

Through the construction of wafer manufacturing and packaging and testing production lines, after the completion of the project, the company's overall process technology capabilities and module mass production capabilities in the field of RF SAW filters will be improved, and the entire industry chain layout of RF SAW filter chips and RF modules will be realized, To enhance the company’s independent R&D and innovation capabilities and market competitiveness, and ultimately realize the domestic substitution of radiofrequency SAW filter chips and radio frequency modules.

Recently, it is worth noting that San'an integrated SAW filter has won the order of Fuzhikang. The cooperation plan covers 2 Nokia models and 3 operators, a total of 5 4G models. Fuzhikang is a world-renowned mobile phone foundry manufacturer, only discrete in the year. The number of filters is estimated to be nearly 600 million. This cooperation marks a comprehensive breakthrough for Sanan's integrated filter business in terms of module customers and mobile phone manufacturer customers.

According to reports, there are currently 41 customers of Sanan’s integrated filter products, 17 of which are mobile phone and communication, module customers. For example, Fuzhikang, Hezhou, Tianlong, etc. have successfully imported San’an products, including Guanghetong 24 Potential customers have entered the product verification stage, and shipments have rapidly increased. Shipments in the fourth quarter of last year totaled 20 million, and in the second quarter of this year, single-month shipments reached 20 million.

In addition, Kuangda Technology recently stated that its goal is to become a leader in China's SAW filter industry. Kuangda Technology is the leader in domestic automotive interiors. Through its holding subsidiary, Chip Investment Micro acquired the Japanese NSD Company and entered the semiconductor field. The Japanese NSD Company, which has been controlled by Chip Investment Micro, has an independent R&D and production team and independent intellectual property rights and has a complete In front-end wafer and back-end packaging and testing factories, core products are used in multiple fields. The company said that it is currently actively preparing and implementing the expansion plan of the filter project in China and Japan.

U.S. and Japanese manufacturers occupy most of the market, domestic companies still need to continue to make efforts

Currently, American and Japanese manufacturers occupy most of the global RF front-end chip market. According to Yole Development data, the five major manufacturers, Murata, Skyworks, Broadcom, Qorvo, and Qualcomm, account for 79% of the global market. The market share is 23%, 18%, 14%, 13% and 11%.

Among them, Murata, Qualcomm (acquired RF360), Taiyo Yuden, Skyworks, and Verizon accounted for more than 90% of the SAW filter market. Skyworks, Qorvo, and Qualcomm accounted for more than 90% of the power amplifier market.

RF front-end chips are one of the areas where my country has a high degree of external dependence, especially in frontier markets such as 5G and highly integrated RF front-end modules. For example, in terms of filters, 70% of the filter market is surface acoustic (SAW) filters At present, domestic substitution is still in its infancy, especially in wafer-level packaging products such as SAW, TC-SAW, and TF-SAW required by modules.

At present, domestic RF chip manufacturers, in addition to the ones mentioned in the listing, include Maijie Technology, Xinwei Communication, Zhuoshengwei, and China Power 26, Deqing Huaying and other filter manufacturers, Huizhiwei, Ziguang Zhanrui, Feixiang Technology, Onray Micro, and other RF power amplifier manufacturers, as well as Weil shares and Aiwei Electronics, which have been involved in the fields of RF switches and LNA.

The current rapid development of 5G mobile communication technology brings new market opportunities to RF front-end chips, but also brings new challenges, such as filters, the number of filters on 5G mobile phones and the value of stand-alone devices have greatly increased, and the market size is expected It will grow from USD 8 billion in 2017 to USD 22.5 billion in 2023, with a compound annual growth rate of 19%.

In terms of power amplifiers, 5G RF front-end integration requirements are higher. In addition to traditional signal amplification and transmission functions, power amplifier modules include power amplifiers and RF switches, as well as integrated filters and duplexers. The PAMiD module products of duplexers, as well as the L-PAMiD and L-PAMiF module product forms that integrate LNA devices, and have both receiving and transmitting functions, can be imagined to be more difficult.

However, it can be seen that domestic companies already have corresponding products in the field of filters and power amplifier modules that are suitable for the 5G field. For example, VJ Chuangxin 5G RF power amplifier modules have achieved mass production, and Chaocai Information has launched 5G front-end filter products, etc. However, overall, the localization process of RF front-end chips is still in its preliminary stage, and there is still a big gap with international leading manufacturers. Next, RF front-end chip companies need to actively work in their respective fields and continue to grow.