Mata invested 25.2 billion, focusing on AI glasses. “Smart glasses will surpass VR (virtual reality) products by far,” Zuckerberg confidently stated in an interview.
Xiaomi’s latest AI glasses have also unexpectedly “sold out.” According to activation data from Xiaomi’s official account, as of July 2, 2025, the actual number of users activating Xiaomi AI glasses has exceeded 30,000.
The craze for AI glasses surged in 2025. However, this is just one aspect of the AI edge; in less noticed areas, the AI edge market is rapidly expanding.
The quietly increasing profits of edge SoC manufacturers are the best proof.
SoC companies are making huge profits.
In the first quarter, Hengxuan Technology achievedoperating revenue of 999.5 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 52.25%, setting a record high for a single quarter, achieving a net profit attributable to the parent company of191 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 590.22%, also the highest net profit in a single quarter since its establishment.
Regarding the growth in performance, Hengxuan Technology believes it is mainly due to three reasons:First, the continuous increase in the company’s market share in the watch sector. Last year, 32% of Hengxuan Technology’s revenue came from watch and bracelet chip products, and this year this proportion is expected to be slightly higher, exceeding40%, which has also driven an increase in the average price of chips. Second, the company insists on choosing brand clients. Third, this year’s national subsidies have also played a role, significantly promoting some consumer demand.
In the first quarter, Rockchip’s net profit attributable to the parent company also increased by209.65% to 209 million yuan. Rockchip explained its performance growth by mentioning the AIoT market. Rockchip stated that during the reporting period, it leveraged its AIoT platform layout advantages,with the flagship chip RK3588 leading the rapid growth of all AIoT product lines. The company’s revenue in the first quarter increased by62.95% to 885 million yuan; the company’s gross profit margin also further increased to 40.95%.
In the first quarter of 2025, Amlogic’s total revenue was 1.53 billion yuan, a slight year-on-year increase of 10.98%, and net profit was 188 million yuan, a significant year-on-year increase of 47.52%. From the performance in 2024, Amlogic’s net profit attributable to the parent company increased by more than 60%. Its latest 6nm chip S905X5 series can complete functions such as simultaneous translation and subtitles locally, enhancing the user experience in cross-language environments. Amlogic expects that the 6nm chip is expected to achieve sales of over ten million units in 2025.
In the first quarter of this year, Actions Technology achieved operating revenue 192 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 62.03%, setting a record high for a single quarter. The net profit attributable to the parent company was 41.44 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 385.67%. Regarding the performance growth, Actions Technology explained that the product performance is outstanding, and the shipment of edge AI processor chips continues to rise, with sales revenue maintaining exponential growth.
In the first quarter of this year, Espressif achieved operating revenue 558 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 44.08%; the net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 93.704 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 73.80%. The performance in the first half of the year is also good, and Espressif attributes the revenue growth to the accelerated adoption of wireless SoC solutions in a wider range of digital scenarios. In addition to smart homes, energy management, industrial control, etc., still maintain good growth rates. Emerging fields such as AI toys, music education, and smart agriculture are beginning to sprout.
With the continuously growing revenue, Forbes released the 2025 Best CEO list, where Zhao Guoguang of Hengxuan Technology and Li Min of Rockchip are among the seven semiconductor company leaders listed.
Recently, the shareholders of these two SoC companies have also taken the lead in cashing out.
Hengxuan Technology’s major shareholders took the lead in cashing out. On July 5, Hengxuan Technology disclosed that some controlling shareholders and important shareholders plan to reduce their holdings, with a total reduction not exceeding 2.00% of the company’s total share capital. Based on the closing price on that day, this reduction could cash out over 760 million yuan.
Rockchip’s third-largest shareholder also chose to cash out. In May, Rockchip announced that Runke Xin would reduce its holdings through centralized bidding and/or block trading, totaling no more than 8,378,000 shares, or no more than 2% of the company’s total shares. Based on the closing price on that day, this reduction could cash out approximately 1.2636 billion yuan.
Whose trump card is the strongest?
Hengxuan Technology: BES2800
The smart audio chip series is Hengxuan Technology’s core product line, mainly including BES2800, BES2700, BES2710, and BES2600 models.
The core competitiveness lies in the flagship product BES2800. It uses advanced 6nm process technology, integrating a high-performance CPU/GPU/NPU subsystem, supporting smart Wi-Fi connectivity and dual-polarity modules, mainly applied in high-end TWS/OWS headphones, smart wireless speakers, and other devices.
Currently, it is reported that Hengxuan Technology’s edge SoC chips are equipped in headphones produced by ByteDance; Hengxuan Technology’s latest BES2800 chip is also applied in Samsung’s latest Galaxy Buds3 Pro headphones released in 2024.
Rockchip: RK3588
Rockchip’s rapid progress is closely related to its flagship product RK3588. RK3588 adopts an advanced 8nm process, an 8-core 64-bit big.LITTLE architecture (4*Cortex-A76 + 4*Cortex-A55), ARM Mali-G610 MC4 GPU, dedicated 2D graphics acceleration module, paired with a 6TOPS computing power NPU, empowering various AI scenarios.
In the robotics market, RK3588, with its high performance, rich interfaces, and strong scalability, is one of the mainstream choices for various robotic applications; in the automotive and industrial markets, RK3588M is one of the few smart cockpit SoC chips in China that can compete with first-line foreign products, with excellent performance, multi-screen capabilities, and edge AI capabilities, with more than ten mass production models in 2024 and over thirty projects being promoted simultaneously.
Currently, Rockchip is developing its flagship chip RK3688. Rockchip believes that the new RK3688 will lay the foundation for a new growth cycle for the company, and this product is expected to be launched in 2026.
Amlogic: S905X5
Amlogic has a wide range of product lines, including five major product lines, S series set-top box chips, T series smart display terminal chips, A series AI audio and video terminal chips, etc. Multimedia smart terminal chips (smart set-top box chips, smart TV chips, and AI audio and video chips) are Amlogic’s flagship products, achieving revenue of 5.806 billion yuan in 2024, accounting for 97.98% of total revenue.
Currently, the flagship chip is S905X5, which uses a 6nm process and has already secured orders from several international top operators, with expectations that the 6nm chip will achieve sales of over ten million units in 2025.
Espressif: ESP32 series chips
Espressif initially focused on Wi-Fi MCU chips, among which the ESP32 is a series of microcontroller chips launched by Espressif, covering multiple sub-series such as ESP32-S, ESP32-C, and ESP32-H, which hold an important position in the entire Espressif chip family.
The ESP32 series is a 32-bit MCU microprocessor, with two or one independently controllable CPU cores, clock frequencies adjustable from 80MHz to 240 MHz. It integrates 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi functionality and related protocols, providing support for various Bluetooth and low-power Bluetooth protocols. In terms of gross margin, Espressif’s gross margin has consistently maintained above 40%.
According to the latest financial report data, Espressif achieved operating revenue of 1.22 to 1.25 billion yuan in the first half of this year, a year-on-year increase of 33% to 36%; the net profit attributable to the parent company was 250 to 270 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 65% to 78%.
From the perspective of several domestic SoC chip leaders, there are still differences in downstream applications among various chip companies. Hengxuan Technology focuses on low-power wireless computing SoC chips, with a direction towards Bluetooth audio SoCs, and AIoT as well, confirmed to collaborate with ByteDance to produce AI glasses; Amlogic is a leader in set-top box SoC; Espressif mainly follows the Wi-Fi chip route, currently ranking fifth globally in the large Wi-Fi market..
From the valley to blooming, SoC has finally arrived
Historically, these domestic SoC companies have all gone through low periods.
Rockchip’s flagship chip RK3588 was launched in 2021. However, Rockchip’s revenue in 2022 fell by 25.34%, and net profit fell by 50.58%.
Today, the RK3588 chip has expanded into multiple AI edge fields, with more than ten mass production models in automotive electronics and applications in many well-known robotics manufacturers. Just a few days ago, Rockchip released its 2025 half-year performance forecast, expecting to achieve revenue of 2.045 billion yuan in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 64%, with net profit attributable to the parent company expected to increase by 185% to 195%. The reasons for growth are still related to the development of AIoT and the demand for AI applications at the edge.
Hengxuan Technology started with Bluetooth headset chips, launching BES2300, BES2500, and BES2700 from 2018 to 2022. However, in 2022, net profit fell by 69.97%; in 2023, the company’s net profit was 123.6 million yuan, lower than the level in 2020 (198.4 million yuan).
It wasn’t until 2024 that a turning point appeared, with Hengxuan Technology’s net profit soaring by 272.47%. Currently, Hengxuan Technology’s smart wearable chip BES2800 has been integrated into multiple clients’ headphones, smartwatches, and smart glasses projects. The BES2800 solution is a candidate for AI glasses, capable of competing with Qualcomm’s AR1 in terms of cost performance.
Espressif went public on the Sci-Tech Innovation Board in July 2019. However, from 2021 to 2023, Espressif entered a period of stagnation in performance growth, with operating revenue hovering around 1.4 billion yuan for three consecutive years. As revenue growth stagnated, investors voted with their feet, and Espressif’s stock price once fell to 35.18 yuan/share (after adjustment, the same below), down nearly 80% from the peak of 153.53 yuan/share in 2020.
During this period, Espressif expanded from the Wi-Fi MCU niche to the AIoT SoC field, focusing on “processing + connectivity.” This is why in 2024, Espressif made a remarkable comeback. The annual revenue surged to 2.007 billion yuan with a year-on-year growth rate of 40.04%, and the net profit attributable to the parent company increased by 149.13%, setting a new historical record, with chip sales reaching 253 million units, a year-on-year increase of 35.87%.
It can be said that domestic SoC manufacturers were well-prepared before their performance explosion.
Schopenhauer once said, “If I am not worthy of this era, then this era is not worthy of me.” A few years ago, SoC manufacturers were waiting for AIoT, but what did not disappoint them was that AI has indeed arrived.
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