There is no doubt that the top three are Huawei HiSilicon, UNISOC, and Sanechips. These companies have developed over 100 high-value general-purpose and communication-specific core chips, including CPUs, DPUs, GPUs, digital intermediate frequency, baseband, optical transmission framing, and codec chips.
HiSilicon (Chinese name: 海思)
https://www.hisilicon.com/en/
HiSilicon is a semiconductor company under Huawei, formerly the Huawei Integrated Circuit Design Center established in 1991. Due to U.S. sanctions in 2019, HiSilicon gained significant attention in mainland China. The company, headquartered in Shenzhen, is best known for its Kirin chip series, although recent restrictions have impacted its access to advanced manufacturing technologies.
UNISOC (Chinese name: 紫光展锐)
https://www.unisoc.com/en_us/
UNISOC was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Shanghai. It is one of the few companies globally mastering full-scenario communication technology and ranks among the world's top three 5G mobile phone chip manufacturers. Following the resolution of conflicts between its major shareholder and management, the company aims to go public in 2025 with a valuation of approximately RMB 66 billion.
Sanechips (Chinese name: 中兴微电子)
https://www.sanechips.com.cn/en/
Sanechips, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ZTE, originated from ZTE's IC design department established in 1996. It specializes in ICT chip design and played a crucial role in ZTE's recovery post-U.S. sanctions in 2018, thanks to technical support from Sanechips.
Other Leading Companies:
Will Semiconductor(Chinese name: 韦尔半导体丨www.ovt.com)
HuaDa Semiconductor(Chinese name: 华大半导体丨www.hdsc.com.cn)
ZhiXin Semiconductor(Chinese name: 智芯微电子、智芯科技丨www.zhixin-semi.com)
Goodix Technology(Chinese name: 汇顶科技丨www.goodix.com/en)
Silan Microelectronics(Chinese name: 士兰微电子丨www.silan.com.cn/en/)
Vimicro(Chinese name: 中星微电子丨www.vimicro.com/english/)
These companies have developed dozens of self-designed chips and are leaders in various chip design sub-sectors. For instance, Goodix Technology is a prominent player in China's fingerprint recognition chip design field.
While China's SoC design capabilities are not actually weak, the country faces challenges in chip manufacturing equipment and design software. Conversely, Taiwan hosts several powerful chip design companies that rank among the world's top, such as MediaTek.
