According to a comprehensive report from Electronic Enthusiasts on July 11, the National Enterprise Bankruptcy Reorganization Case Information Network shows that Ling Sheng Technology’s wholly-owned subsidiaryLikexin Semiconductor Technology Co., Ltd. has officially entered the bankruptcy review process, with the Pudong New Area Court having accepted the case, involving debts of approximately 90 million yuan.Information indicates that Shanghai Likexin Semiconductor Technology Co., Ltd. was established on March 27, 2017, initially positioned as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Spreadtrum Communications under Datang Telecom, focusing on mobile terminal chip design. The company relied on Datang Telecom’s technological accumulation, initially focusing on chip R&D in the fields of 5G, IoT, and artificial intelligence, with a registered capital of 591 million yuan, located in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone.In 2018, Spreadtrum Technology, together with Qualcomm (holding 24%), Jianguang Asset (34.6%), and Zhilu Capital (17%), jointly established the joint venture Ling Sheng Technology, with Likexin subsequently becoming the wholly-owned operating entity of Ling Sheng Technology, aiming to break through the technology barriers of domestic mobile phone chips.Qualcomm invested 720 million yuan in cash to acquire a 24% stake, thereby avoiding the risks of technological blockade under the Sino-U.S. trade friction, and entered the Chinese market through technology licensing (Q-modem platform); while Datang Telecom retained industrial discourse power through asset injection, attempting to leverage the joint venture to overcome the technological bottleneck of 4G baseband chips. Likexin, as the core carrier, undertook two core businesses: one was to sell Qualcomm chips for domestic small and medium-sized mobile phone brands, and the other was to develop self-researched SoC chips for the public network mobile phone market, becoming a typical example in the wave of domestic substitution.However, as a joint venture, Ling Sheng Technology did not target high-end mobile phone chips but defined its products as low-end mobile phone chips, competing with local mobile SoC manufacturers such as Unisoc, which led to considerable skepticism from industry insiders at the time.In terms of products, in 2020, Ling Sheng launched its first AIoT SoC chip, the JA310, using Samsung’s 11nm process, equipped with a quad-core A55 CPU, 2TOPS NPU, and high-performance dual-channel ISP, supporting up to 8M 30fps video processing, achieving mass production in the smart home field.In June 2022, Ling Sheng launched its first 4G LTE smartphone SoC chip, the JR510, which was adopted by the Xiaomi POCO C40 smartphone and sold in markets such as Vietnam and India. The JR510 used an 11nm process, equipped with an octa-core A55 CPU, Mali G52 GPU, and supported 1.23TOPS computing power NPU. However, as the global market entered a rapid development phase for 5G networks in 2022, the 4G SoC launched by Ling Sheng had already fallen behind competitors.It is worth mentioning that after the POCO C40 adopted the JR510, in 2021, Xiaomi’s industrial fund invested in Ling Sheng, acquiring a 3.35% stake held by Spreadtrum Technology in Ling Sheng Technology. However, the company’s operating conditions did not improve, with a cumulative net loss exceeding 800 million yuan from 2019 to the first quarter of 2021, and an additional loss of 240 million yuan in the first half of 2022, exposing serious structural contradictions.More critically, as the consumer electronics industry entered a downturn in 2023, the sales volume of Likexin’s Qualcomm chip agency business sharply decreased by 30%, while self-researched chips failed to open new markets due to performance not meeting standards, creating a dilemma of“old debts unpaid, new debts hard to collect”.In 2022, Spreadtrum Technology completely withdrew from the mobile phone chip business, and Datang Telecom gradually sold off its shares in Ling Sheng.Amid continuous losses, Ling Sheng has been seeking external financing. In 2021 and 2022, Ling Sheng Technology introduced investors such as Geke Micro, E-Lian Technology, Jianguang Asset, and Huaqin Technology, with two rounds of investment exceeding 300 million yuan.As of the recent bankruptcy, Ling Sheng Technology and Likexin are involved in 146 lawsuits, including unpaid wages, overdue social security, and contract disputes, with the amount in question exceeding 100 million yuan.
Statement：This article is a comprehensive report by Electronic Enthusiasts, please indicate the source above when reprinting. For group communication, please add WeChat elecfans999, for submission of reports and interview requests, please send an email to [email protected].
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