Ye Haiqiang stated that the company's ASIC security dedicated chip is expected to enter mass production in October this year, with plans to release a hardware platform officially equipped with the ASIC mass production chip by the end of this year, and to complete the transition of all cybersecurity platform products by the first half of next year.Written by| Wu Xuguang
As the mass production of Shanshi Network Technology’s ASIC security dedicated chip approaches, this company, which started with network security firewalls, has garnered increased market attention.
It is reported that Shanshi Network Technology focuses on boundary security, cloud security, and data security, providing next-generation firewalls, intrusion prevention systems, and other products. So, why is a firewall technology company “crossing over” into the semiconductor chip field?
Recently, during a media exchange event held at the company’s R&D center in Suzhou, Ye Haiqiang, Chairman and CEO of Shanshi Network Technology, along with the company’s management team, answered questions regarding the company’s layout of ASIC security dedicated chip products, overseas market expansion, and future strategic development plans.
▍ASIC Security Dedicated Chip + AI Technology Working Together
Like leading network security companies in the industry, Shanshi Network Technology is also actively embracing an AI strategic layout.
According to Ye Haiqiang, this year marks the sixth year since Shanshi Network Technology went public, and the company’s business has covered over 60 countries and regions worldwide. Looking to the future, Shanshi Network Technology has proposed a “Double A Strategy”, namely: ASIC plus AI.
In fact, with the large-scale implementation of 5G, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence technologies, network traffic has shown exponential growth, and the demands for real-time performance, stability, and security in business scenarios have become increasingly stringent. Traditional firewalls, limited by general-purpose chip architectures, are gradually revealing bottlenecks in throughput performance, latency control, and energy efficiency.
Especially in the context of domestic innovation, the performance bottlenecks of domestic CPUs directly restrict the performance of domestic security devices, and enterprises urgently need to find high-performance network security solutions to meet the growing demands for network bandwidth.
Against this backdrop, Shanshi Network Technology decided to develop its own ASIC security dedicated chip.
When introducing the latest progress of the ASIC security dedicated chip, Ye Haiqiang stated that as early as 2021, Shanshi Network Technology initiated its ASIC R&D strategy, and by October 2024, the first trial production chip successfully passed the tape-out, and is currently in the preparation stage for mass production.
“The company’s ASIC security dedicated chip is expected to enter mass production in October this year, with plans to release a hardware platform officially equipped with the ASIC mass production chip by the end of this year, and to complete the transition of all cybersecurity platform products by the first half of next year,” Ye Haiqiang further stated.
In addition, regarding the “Security AI” strategy, the company places great importance on the development of artificial intelligence, fully promoting the strategy of “AI Empowering Shanshi”, and has established the position of Chief AI Officer (CAIO) for the first time to oversee the top-level design and implementation of the company’s AI initiatives.
Jiang Dongyi, Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) and Chief AI Officer (CAIO) of Shanshi Network Technology, stated that the company is building a comprehensive security protection system centered on the ASIC security dedicated chip and AI technology. The company aims to reshape the security ecosystem with AI, covering intelligent scenarios such as device operation and maintenance, data security, and security operations, namely: the device operation and maintenance intelligent agent can provide expert-level security services anytime and anywhere; the data security intelligent agent can significantly improve classification and grading efficiency, etc.
“Currently, about 10% of the work of the company’s R&D team is completed by AI,” Jiang Dongyi said, adding that Shanshi Network Technology is addressing new security challenges with large model security solutions, closely following AI development trends in three dimensions: “AI Security”, “Secure AI”, and “Shanshi’s AI”.
▍”Adjusting Prices to Capture a Larger Market Share”
Regarding the future performance release rhythm of the ASIC security dedicated chip, Ye Haiqiang mentioned that according to the company’s preliminary planning, the chip is expected to be iterated in a small number of firewall products in the fourth quarter of this year, which means it will not have a significant impact on the company’s revenue in 2025.
“Only when the ASIC security dedicated chip products are launched on a large scale in the future can we expect a significant increase in market share; and based on this, enhance profitability,” Ye Haiqiang added.
According to the company’s estimates, in fields such as financial internet, by optimizing products and market strategies, it is expected to achieve an incremental revenue of approximately 80 million to 100 million yuan annually in the future.
Subsequently, Shanshi Network Technology’s Vice President Jia Yu introduced the company’s phased achievements of the ASIC security dedicated chip to the “Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily” reporter, stating that after multiple industry tests, the chip’s performance has achieved the basic functionality of serially starting firewalls and maintaining stable operation for over 170 days, meeting high performance and high stability requirements.
“The ASIC security dedicated chip has been first applied to Shanshi Network Technology’s firewall product line, and in the future, over 90 security hardware products will be fully equipped, covering industries such as finance and telecommunications.”Jia Yu further stated.
“The mass production launch of the ASIC security dedicated chip, timely equipped on security hardware platforms, provides the company with more opportunities to participate in orders with higher performance or cost-performance requirements, making previously inaccessible markets reachable, and potentially turning around previously loss-making businesses.” Ye Haiqiang stated that Shanshi Network Technology has set the period from 2023 to 2025 as the adjustment period, with the goal of gradually reducing losses; and from 2026 to 2028 as the leap period, aiming to enhance profitability through increased market share and expanded profit margins.
Looking ahead to the performance in 2025, the company stated that, firstly, based on the business opportunity reserves from the first quarter of this year, there has been a significant increase in business opportunity reserves in key industries such as finance, energy, and telecommunications compared to last year, forming the foundation and confidence for the company’s performance growth in 2025; secondly, the performance target set by the 2024 equity incentive is “based on the 2024 operating revenue, with a year-on-year growth of no less than 20% in 2025” as a challenge target, moving towards the performance goal.
▍Revenue from Hong Kong, Macau, and Overseas Markets Has Started to Scale
“I often tell the internal team that I hope the future profits of Shanshi Network Technology will come from three aspects, namely domestic, overseas, and strategic cooperation, each accounting for one-third,” Ye Haiqiang told the “Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily” reporter.
Shanshi Network Technology views the Hong Kong, Macau, and overseas markets as one of its medium to long-term strategies.
After years of development, the company’s investment and expansion in the Hong Kong, Macau, and overseas markets have begun to yield results.
It is reported that in the first half of this year, the company’s business in the Hong Kong and Macau regions saw a year-on-year profit increase of approximately 40%, with breakthroughs achieved in local government and financial businesses. Major clients include Hong Kong Cyberport and MTR.
According to Shanshi Network Technology’s plan, deepening the Hong Kong and Macau regions will also facilitate the gradual extension of its business into Southeast Asia, as the company is optimistic about overseas market opportunities and will continue to enhance its service capabilities in Latin America, competing directly with foreign manufacturers to capture a larger share of the overseas market.
Regarding the confidence in the company’s layout in overseas markets, Ye Haiqiang stated that with the upcoming launch of the ASIC security dedicated chip products, it may further narrow the technological gap between the company and well-known foreign security manufacturers, helping Shanshi Network Technology’s core products to compete on equal footing with international security manufacturers in overseas markets; on the other hand, after years of deep cultivation in the industry, the company has accumulated cutting-edge technological achievements and solutions in areas such as AI-driven network security, zero-trust architecture, and threat visualization, which have provided a certain competitive advantage in overseas markets.
In facing potential “cultural adaptation” issues that may arise when the company’s products go overseas, Ye Haiqiang stated, “The primary solution for ‘going overseas’ is to find the most suitable management talent. To this end, the company adopts a ‘localization’ strategy, establishing offices locally and enhancing the strength of local technical support teams to accelerate in-depth cultivation; in addition, for revenue distribution in overseas markets, a partnership system is adopted to quickly integrate local resources.”
It is worth mentioning that, in the upcoming financial stablecoin security protection scenario on August 1, Shanshi Network Technology has also made arrangements.
“Currently, companies like Ant Group and JD Group, which are planning to apply for stablecoin licenses in Hong Kong, are already our existing clients,” Jiang Dongyi stated, adding that stablecoins are still a new phenomenon, and current assessments show that they do not pose complex and significant security issues that require special handling in network security.
“From the company’s existing comprehensive solutions, such as payment layers and transaction channels, they can meet the security and stable operation requirements in related fields. Of course, any new business development will encounter some new situations that require timely responses from the company team,” Jiang Dongyi added.
