AI chips are the core hardware of the artificial intelligence industry. The global level of AI chip development is still in its infancy. With many favorable factors, China is expected to catch up, expand its advantages, and gradually lead the world, with great potential for development.
Data show that China's AI chip market increased from 5.3 billion yuan in 2017 to 43.68 billion yuan in 2021, with an average compound annual growth rate of 69.4%. It is estimated that China's AI chip market will increase to 85.02 billion yuan in 2022. As the field of AI chip applications expands, the booming development momentum continues unabated. China's AI chip market is expected to break the 100 billion milestone this year.
With the explosion of AI technology, different types of chips are playing a key role in AI calculation, training, and reasoning. Each chip type has unique advantages to meet different application scenarios and needs.
The rapid development of these AI chips indicates that the chip industry will face greater challenges and opportunities in the AI era.
For example, overseas, large cloud service providers have begun to expand self-developed ASIC chips, and the trend is getting worse. Google will accelerate the introduction of self-developed TPUs into AI servers from the second half of 2023, and the annual growth will exceed 70%. In 2024, AWS will also expand the use of self-developed ASICs, and shipments are expected to double. Others, such as Microsoft and Meta, are also planning to expand their own ASIC development plans.
Therefore, next, we will focus on areas where domestic manufacturers have potential in AI chips, and focus more on ASICs.
First, the competitive pattern of the ASIC chip market is clearly different and different from other types of chip markets: the traditional general-purpose CPU field already has leaders such as Intel and Qualcomm, and the GPU field, Nvidia, etc., while FPGAs include Xilinx (Xilinx), which was acquired by AMD, and Altera (Altera), which was acquired by Intel, the first two have a market share of about 90%. The leading domestic FPGA company is Anlu Technology. The company was listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board on November 12, 2021, but its share in the global market is not large.
Only the field of customized ASICs that are most compatible with AI computing has not yet formed a situation of monopoly by one or a few leading manufacturers. The huge and scattered market pattern and vertical and fragmented market demand characteristics are providing many opportunities for domestic enterprises.
Furthermore, ASIC's excellent performance in meeting the needs of small smart devices also provides strong support for future technological innovation and market applications.
ASICs often integrate dozens of small-scale IC modules such as CPUs, GPUs, memory, and even Bluetooth and WIFI on a single chip according to the specific needs of customers to achieve system-level design requirements. This practice is also known as SoC (system-on-chip).
Due to its low power consumption and high efficiency, it is particularly suitable for smart terminals with low power consumption and small space. The uniqueness and advantages of ASIC chips make them the preferred solution for various smart terminals or traffic entrances, and is expected to be the first to achieve large-scale applications in these fields.
ASIC applications include, but are not limited to, smart phones, wearable devices, security front-end cameras, smart home devices, and drones.
Among them, ASIC has two main chips in smartphones, one is AP (Application Processor, Application Processor), and the other is BP (Baseband Processor, Baseband Processor). Currently, there is also a third type of ASIC chip called CP (CoProcessor) in mobile phones. Each manufacturer has different names for CP. For example, Apple calls it a coprocessor, and Qualcomm 820 is called a “low power island”. The performance of CP is already very high. At the beginning There are more and more things to process, and today's CP can already handle virtual reality, augmented reality, image processing, HIFI, HDR, sensors, etc.
The well-known Kirin chip is an AP in ASIC, while the chip company famous for BP in China is Aojie Technology, which is listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board.
According to KBVResearch report data, in 2019-2025, the global ASIC chip market is expected to reach US$24.7 billion, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 8.2% during the forecast period.
(Source: Dongfangcai Securities)
The current rapid rise of domestic ASIC manufacturers can to some extent reflect the strength and advantages of these chip companies in technology research and development and manufacturing.
In the future, with continuous technological innovation and deepening industry competition, domestic ASIC chips are expected to become important participants in the global market and achieve greater breakthroughs in the field of AI chips.
Domestic companies that design and manufacture ASICs include Cambrian, Yuntian Lifei, Aerospace Micro, and ICG (Smart Chain Group) manufacturers that already have core chip products:
◎ Cambrian period - the latest market capitalization is about RMB 60.3 billion
The company is one of the world's leading AI chip providers. Its ASIC chips are widely used in the field of artificial intelligence. The company has strong technological innovation capabilities and market expansion capabilities, and is expected to become a leading enterprise in the field of AI chips in the future.
The company has ASIC-cloud-based AI chips and ASIC-edge AI chips. The Siyuan 290 was the first cloud training smart chip in the Cambrian period; the Siyuan 370 was the third generation Cambrian cloud smart chip, and the Siyuan 220 and corresponding M.2 accelerator cards were the company's first edge smart chip products.
The company's next-generation cloud-based AI chip Siyuan 590 has been greatly improved compared to the Siyuan 290 series. Siyuan series products have also been used in the products of many server manufacturers such as Inspur and Lenovo. In addition, the Siyuan 220 chip and edge intelligent accelerator card launched for edge computing scenarios have also landed in many leading companies, with cumulative sales volume exceeding one million units since launch.
◎ Yuntian Lifei -- The latest market value is about RMB 19.3 billion
The company is one of the few domestic enterprises that develop AI chips and algorithms in parallel. It has two major technology platforms, algorithm technology and AI chip technology, which can achieve algorithm chipization and improve chip efficiency and scenario adaptability.
The company has ASIC-visual AI co-processing chips and ASIC-edge AI chips. In 2022, the company's third-generation chip Deep Edge 10 was released and is expected to be mass-produced and put into use in 2023. Using advanced domestic technology and Chiplet technology that supports multi-core expansion, Deep Edge 10 can provide deep learning inference computation power for 12TOPS (INT8) integer computation and 2TFLOPS (FP16) floating-point computation, and can be widely used in scenarios such as AoT edge video and mobile robots.
◎ Aerospace Micro——The latest market capitalization is about RMB 9.4 billion
The company is a high-tech enterprise specializing in the development and production of embedded SoC/SiP chips/modules, avionics systems, aerospace control systems, face recognition and intelligent image analysis, microaircraft, artificial intelligence, satellite constellations and satellite big data service platforms.
The company has ASIC-general-purpose AI chips. Yulong 810 is a new generation embedded artificial intelligence series processor chip launched by the company. It can achieve 12 tops of computing power, can achieve seamless connection with mainstream deep learning software frameworks such as TensorFlow and Caffe, and has ultra-high stability and ultra-low power consumption. It is mainly aimed at aviation and aviation application scenarios, and the Yulong 810 development board and chip have been well received by customers, and sales contracts have been gradually signed.
◎ ICG (Smart Chain Group) - the latest market capitalization is about 4.3 billion yuan (610 million US dollars)
This is a domestic chip company listed on the US stock market in 2023. It focuses on providing customers with a comprehensive solution provider for high-performance computing ASIC chips and supporting software and hardware. The company's products include high-performance ASIC chips with high computing power and excellent energy efficiency, as well as supporting software and hardware. The company has accumulated rich experience in SoC chips and high performance computing ASIC chips, and implemented the concepts of algorithm chipization and system chipization.
The company has established a proprietary technology platform called the “Xihe” platform, which enables it to develop a variety of highly efficient and scalable ASIC chips.
As of September 30, 2022, the company has completed 8 streams of 22 questionable ASIC chips using the “Xihe” platform, and the success rate of all streams has reached 100%.
According to public information, the company's next-generation chip products were filmed in October 2023, and mass production is expected before Q1 2024.
In addition to the companies mentioned above, there are some cross-border or new players. They have also made positive progress in the ASIC field in recent years. The performance of some listed companies listed is as follows:
◎ Lanqi Technology -- The latest market capitalization is about RMB 68.7 billion
The company focuses on ASIC design and application, and its products are widely used in the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, smart homes and other fields. The company continues to make breakthroughs in R&D and technological innovation, and is expected to become a leading enterprise in emerging industries in the future.
◎ Fumanwei -- the latest market capitalization is about RMB 7.1 billion
The company is an integrated circuit design enterprise focusing on the design and development, packaging, testing and sales of high-performance, high-quality analog integrated circuit chips. Currently, it has 4 categories of products for sale, mainly covering various fields such as video display, wireless communication, storage, and power management. The main products are LED screen control and drivers, MOSFETs, MCU, fast charging protocol chips, 5G RF front-end discrete chips and module chips, and various ASICs. The products can be widely used in emerging electronic product fields such as consumer electronics, communication equipment, and industrial control.
◎ Ruichuang Weina - Market capitalization of about RMB 21.2 billion
The company specializes in the development of uncooled infrared thermal imaging and MEMS sensing technology, and is committed to the design and manufacture of special integrated circuits, MEMS sensors and infrared imaging products. The products mainly include infrared detector chips, thermal imaging engine modules, infrared thermal imager complete machines, laser microwave products and optoelectronic systems.
On August 8, 2020, Ruichuang Micronano released a full range of infrared thermal imaging modules based on self-developed ASIC processor chips. This series of modules is equipped with a self-developed “Falcon” AISC processor chip, which replaces the FPGA scheme of traditional thermal imaging modules. It has the characteristics of smaller size, lighter weight, lower power consumption, better cost, and higher performance, that is, it meets the application requirements of the new generation of infrared detectors Swap3.
◎ Medium and micro semiconductivity - market value of about 9.7 billion yuan
The company is a platform-based chip design enterprise with MCU as the core, focusing on the design and sales of digital, analog and mixed signal chips. Currently, its products include 8-bit and 32-bit MCUs (MCUs), various SoCs (systems on a chip), various ASICs (special circuits) and power devices, which are widely used in consumer electronics, household appliances, industrial control, and automotive electronics.
◎ Riyadh - market capitalization of approximately RMB 14.6 billion
Research and development of ASIC control chips for LED displays began in 2019, small-batch trial production was launched in October 2021, and the company's ASIC chips entered mass production in 2022.
◎ Chunzhong Technology - Market capitalization of about 4.1 billion yuan
The company is mainly engaged in the design and development of digital signal processors (DSP) and ASICs. The products are widely used in smart phones, tablets, digital TVs, automotive electronics and other fields. The company's self-developed ASIC chips have been delivered to wafers in early August 2023. The company's self-developed chips will be put on the market in addition to prioritizing the needs of its own products, and product application scenarios are diversified.
◎ Risconda — Market capitalization of approximately RMB 4.4 billion
The company already has a number of leading domestic core technologies in ASIC chip design, packet core architecture and other related fields, and has successfully developed a variety of ASIC autonomous chips for access devices. Self-developed ASIC chips are mainly used in company-related communication products.
◎ Quanzhi Technology - Market capitalization is about RMB 14.8 billion
All of the company's smart terminal processor chips are ASIC chips.