1. Driving Logic
Friends, does the term “domestic substitution” sound like a foreign language to you? Don’t worry, today we won’t use PPT; instead, we’ll use bargaining skills to clarify the current landscape of domestic chip forces that are worth watching!
Let’s get straight to the point—5 major directions + core players, covering “track positioning + what they do + where they excel” in one article!
First Company Cambricon: The “Special Forces” of AI Computing Power
Subfield: Cloud AI training/inference chips—specializing in the “brain engine” behind large models.
Main Business: Producing AI accelerator cards capable of running trillion-parameter models, competing with NVIDIA A100/H100.
Company Highlights:
① The earliest domestic “technology pioneer” betting on AI chips, the MLU series has entered testing lines of major companies like Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent, with single-card computing power reaching 128 TOPS (INT8), supporting the PyTorch/TensorFlow ecosystem, and an active developer community.
② Although currently unprofitable, it is one of the few companies that can achieve independent instruction set + self-developed architecture, with a mature software stack, low migration costs, strong government project endorsements, and high security attributes.
③ Current valuation seems high? Don’t rush—once domestic servers completely ban overseas high-end GPUs, its replacement value will explode. In short: what you are buying now is “potential”, not a profit statement.
💡 Industry Tip: Moore Threads and Biren Technology are also in the race; if they collectively go public in the future, it may trigger a valuation reconstruction—whoever mass-produces first and controls the ecosystem will be the king.
Second Company Haiguang Information: The “Lone Player” in x86
Subfield: High-performance CPU + DCU (similar to GPU)—a “dual-engine configuration” for data centers.
Main Business: The only legally authorized x86 architecture CPU in China, also producing AI accelerator cards DCU, with performance comparable to A100.
Company Highlights:
① Technically sound, a child of Zhongke Shuguang, the first choice for national team procurement, with stable orders.
② The DCU “Deep Computing No. 2” has been tested to run billion-level model training, integrated into Baidu’s Qianfan platform, compatible with the CUDA ecosystem, making it easy for customers to switch.
③ Gross margin exceeds 65%, top level in the semiconductor industry! The key is—it has both general computing power and can engage in AI battles, making it a rare asset with full-stack control.
📌 Trivia: There are only a handful of domestic companies that can handle both CPU and GPU-level computing power, and it is one of them.
Third Company Tuojing Technology & Xinyuan Micro: The “Invisible Champions” in Packaging Production Lines
Subfield: Semiconductor equipment—specializing in the “bonding workers” and “polishers” in advanced packaging.
Main Business:
- Tuojing Technology: Producing thin-film deposition equipment (PECVD, ALD), essential for HBM stacking.
- Xinyuan Micro: Focused on coating, developing, and cleaning machines, already supplying in bulk for thinning and dicing processes.
Company Highlights:
① Global advanced packaging is driven by TSMC’s CoWoS and Samsung’s X-Cube, with explosive growth in HBM demand, and these technologies rely on high-precision bonding, multi-layer stacking, TSV plating—which is their main battlefield.
② Japanese DISCO and Austrian EVG have monopolized for years, but now domestic equipment has caught up or even surpassed in bonding precision and production efficiency, with some products entering verification processes at SMIC and Changjiang Electronics.
③ Policies strongly promote the goal of “30% localization of equipment”; orders are expected to increase by over 40% year-on-year in 2024, with gross margins reaching 45%+, making it a sure bet for “selling shovels in a gold rush”.
🔍 Fun Fact: Each additional layer of HBM stacking requires precise alignment—this task increasingly relies on our own machines.
Fourth Company Unisoc: The “Gatekeeper” of Security Chips
Subfield: Intelligent security chips + special integrated circuits—providing “safes” for national systems.
Main Business: Financial IC cards, government ID cards, communication encryption chips, military FPGAs—all critical components that cannot fail.
Company Highlights:
① The leading market share in security chips in China, with its shadow in social security cards, second-generation ID cards, and digital RMB hardware wallets, all clients are “national teams”.
② Special chips used in aerospace and military fields have long certification cycles and extremely high barriers; once entered, they provide a decade of income.
③ Gross margins consistently above 70%, light asset, high cash flow, stable dividends, making it the “Moutai of semiconductors”.
✅ Summary in One Sentence: This is not a race for speed, but a hard battle for reliability + qualifications + trust, and it has all the cards.
Fifth Company Shengbang Co. & Diaowei: The “Utilities” Supplier of Analog Chips
Subfield: Power management + signal chain chips—”blood pressure monitors” and “fuel pumps” for electronic systems.
Main Business:
- Shengbang Co.: Focused on high-performance analog chips, covering DC-DC, LDO, ADC/DAC.
- Diaowei: Specializing in USB fast charging, audio switching, and interface protection, applicable in mobile phones and automotive standards.
Company Highlights:
① Unlike digital chips that pursue extreme processes, analog chips focus more on stability and long-term supply capability—this is a good battlefield for domestic manufacturers to make a comeback.
② Already integrated into the supply chains of BYD, Xiaomi, and OPPO, with some products replacing imported TI and ADI parts, rapidly increasing penetration in automotive electronics and energy storage inverters.
③ Light asset design model, gross margins of 40%-50%, healthy inventory turnover, and strong resistance to cycles.
🧩 Analogous Understanding: If AI chips are “rocket engines”, then they are “power outlets + voltage regulators”—unremarkable, but needed everywhere.
Bonus—One-Click Package for the Lazy:Chip ETF (512760) or Sci-Tech Innovation Board 50 ETF (588000)
If you’re still confused after reading this: “Which story should I believe? Cambricon too expensive? Haiguang too slow? Equipment stocks too cold?”Then don’t pick individual stocks, just get on board with Chip ETF or Sci-Tech Innovation Board 50 ETF.
They are like two bags of “mixed nut gift boxes”:
- Filled with core domestic chips like SMIC, North Huachuang, Cambricon, Haiguang, Tuojing…;
- Unisoc, Lianqi Technology, Zhongwei Company, and Shanghai Silica Industry are also benefiting.
👉 Target Audience: Those who don’t want to take risks, don’t dare to heavily invest in single stocks, and want to share in the entire domestic substitution wave.
Final Key Points: Three Sentences to Understand Current Domestic Chips
- Computing power independence = national security → Companies like Cambricon and Haiguang, in the short term, look at policies, in the long term, look at ecosystems.
- Advanced packaging is taking off → HBM and CoWoS drive equipment demand, with “behind-the-scenes heroes” like Tuojing and Xinyuan Micro quietly making profits.
- From point breakthroughs to widespread flowering → Not just AI and CPUs, companies like Shanghai Beiling, Shengbang, Diaowei, and Unisoc are quietly completing import substitution in power, security, interfaces, and more.
📌 Conclusion in One Sentence:Stop only focusing on NVIDIA’s financial reports; China’s “chip” long march is already advancing millimeter by millimeter in kitchens, workshops, and data centers.
Every domestic chip company you see now is a stronghold in this breakout battle.Can’t pick the right stocks? No worries—investing in chip ETFs is like taking the pulse of China’s technological lifeline.
Risk Warning: Any opinions expressed herein are solely personal views and do not constitute investment advice. Operate at your own risk; investment carries risks, and caution is advised when entering the market.