Despite recent impacts from U.S. government tariff restrictions and negative news regarding the Netherlands’ “forced acquisition” of Nexperia, Chinese chip companies are striving to catch up in the RF front-end market, which has long been dominated by international giants. This may herald a second wave of domestic substitution leading to global leadership!Currently, 80% of the global RF front-end market is still monopolized by international giants such as Skyworks, Qorvo, Murata, and Qualcomm. The “second wave of domestic substitution” offers unprecedented opportunities for Chinese companies. Unlike the first wave of substitution, which primarily focused on the mid-to-low-end sectors, the second wave targets the highly integrated module market, which has the highest technical barriers. In this field, the localization rate is still less than 10%. Domestic RF front-end companies, represented by Angweiwei and Weijie Chuangxin, are gradually breaking through in the high-end 5G module sector through years of technological accumulation.01 Market Landscape: Opportunities and Challenges of Domestic SubstitutionAccording to Yole data forecasts, the global RF front-end market in the mobile device sector is expected to grow to $26.9 billion by 2028. This is a sufficiently large market, but the market share of domestic manufacturers has long been below 20%. In the 5G era, the value of RF front-ends continues to rise. A report from the China Research Institute predicts that the global RF front-end market will exceed $30 billion by 2025.The opportunities for domestic substitution mainly arise from two aspects: First, the modularization trend brought about by 5G technology upgrades; second, the demand for supply chain security under changing international conditions. The Huawei and ZTE incidents in 2019 became a turning point for the industry, prompting leading domestic smartphone manufacturers to actively support domestic RF front-end chips. Currently, leading smartphone brands such as Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo, and Honor are actively seeking domestic suppliers in the mid-to-high-end market. However, challenges remain severe. Industry insiders point out that Chinese RF chip companies currently lack foundational technological accumulation, leading to homogenized product performance parameters, resulting in intense competition and inevitable price wars.02 Technological Breakthroughs: Tackling the “Crown Jewel” of RFIn the RF front-end field, high-end modules such as L-PAMiD are known as the “crown jewel” of RF due to their extreme technical complexity, representing a technological peak that has long been difficult for the Chinese chip industry to surpass. These highly integrated modules require the integration of multiple components such as RF power amplifiers, switches, and filters into a single chip, presenting a high technical barrier. In recent years, domestic companies have made substantial breakthroughs in this field. Angweiwei achieved large-scale shipments of the Phase7LE L-PAMiD module to leading customers as early as 2023, becoming one of the first domestic manufacturers to break through this product. Weijie Chuangxin’s L-PAMiD module has also successfully entered mass sales with multiple brand customers since the first half of 2024, breaking the long-standing dominance of foreign manufacturers in this field. Zhuoshengwei’s L-PAMiD products have successfully passed product validation from several mainstream customers and have entered the mass production and delivery phase. Behind these technological breakthroughs is sustained high-intensity R&D investment. From 2022 to 2024, Angweiwei’s cumulative R&D investment reached 980 million yuan, accounting for 20.77% of its cumulative revenue over the past three years.03 Supply Chain Security: Building a Local EcosystemU.S. sanctions have made “supply chain security” a core issue for the Chinese chip industry. Single-point technological breakthroughs are insufficient to support industrial security; a complete domestic supply chain system must be established. RF front-end chip design involves various processes such as GaAs, SOI, CMOS, and filters, requiring collaboration across the entire industry chain, including wafer fabs and packaging plants. Angweiwei has actively collaborated with domestic GaAs and SOI factories, becoming the first verification customer for many supply chains. This exploration is fraught with challenges, as domestic processes are immature and require multiple iterations, while maintaining both overseas and domestic dual supply chains leads to significant R&D investment. However, this strategic determination ultimately led to technological breakthroughs—Angweiwei’s success with its 5G L-PAMiD products proves the feasibility of a purely domestic supply chain. Full-chain localization not only concerns technological security but also brings cost advantages. After adopting domestic processes, some of Angweiwei’s products have achieved performance levels that meet or even exceed those of foreign 22nm processes, significantly reducing unit costs.04 Competitive Landscape: Differentiated Paths for Domestic ManufacturersWithin the domestic RF front-end camp, major manufacturers have formed a certain degree of differentiated layout. Zhuoshengwei focuses on RF switches and receiving modules, while Angweiwei, Weijie Chuangxin, and Feixiang Technology concentrate on the transmission end. In terms of revenue scale, according to 2024 data, Zhuoshengwei, Feixiang Technology, Weijie Chuangxin, and Angweiwei reported revenues of 4.487 billion yuan, 2.458 billion yuan, 2.103 billion yuan, and 2.101 billion yuan, respectively. Angweiwei ranks among the top three domestic manufacturers focused on the transmission end with a revenue of 2.101 billion yuan (of which RF front-end revenue is 1.790 billion yuan). The high-end development pace of each manufacturer also varies. Angweiwei’s Phase8L L-PAMiD module is expected to enter mass production in the second half of 2025, with a technology iteration pace that is basically synchronized with international manufacturers. Weijie Chuangxin’s second-generation product, the Phase7LE Plus module, has significantly improved key performance metrics such as efficiency and power consumption, with related smartphones set to hit the market in the second half of 2025. Meanwhile, the Phase8L module focuses on the mid-to-high-end market, supporting the full frequency band of Sub-3GHz, and has already achieved bulk shipments.05 Future Journey: From Domestic Substitution to Global LeadershipLooking ahead, domestic RF front-end companies have established a clear development path. In the short term, they aim to achieve technological breakthroughs and increase market share; in the medium term, they plan to expand into high-end application fields such as automotive electronics and industrial control; and in the long term, they aspire to become internationally leading RF front-end suppliers. In terms of longer-term technological layout, leading companies have already initiated research on 5G-Advanced and 6G technologies, while also targeting cutting-edge fields such as millimeter-wave and low-orbit satellite communications. These emerging technologies will reshape the future communication landscape and provide strategic opportunities for Chinese chip companies to overtake their competitors. Angweiwei’s practices offer a development paradigm for the Chinese chip industry: based on technological breakthroughs, secured by supply chain safety, and driven by market demand, achieving a spiral rise in industrial capabilities through the positive interaction of these three elements.