Lenovo’s Self-Developed Chip Team General Manager Reportedly Resigns!

Lenovo's Self-Developed Chip Team General Manager Reportedly Resigns!

Lenovo Group’s self-developed chip team is undergoing significant personnel changes!

According to reports from multiple media outlets including Lei Feng Network and Observer Network, Shigong Zheng, the general manager of Lenovo’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Dingdao Zhixin (Shanghai) Semiconductor Co., Ltd., has resigned, and his position will be taken over by Jia Zhaohui, Senior Vice President of Lenovo Group and General Manager of the Global Consumer Business & Advanced Innovation Center.

According to Tianyancha information, on April 10, the senior management personnel record of Dingdao Zhixin was changed from Shigong Zheng and Chen Dan to Jia Zhaohui and Chen Dan. This significant change indicates that the news is not baseless.

Lenovo's Self-Developed Chip Team General Manager Reportedly Resigns!

Shigong Zheng: A Veteran Expert in the Chip Industry

Shigong Zheng has over 5 years of experience working at Huawei and previously served as the Chief SoC Architect at OPPO’s self-developed chip subsidiary, Zheku. He joined Lenovo in early 2021 and was responsible for establishing the self-developed chip team, becoming the general manager when Dingdao Zhixin was founded in January 2022. As a core figure in Lenovo’s self-developed chip business, Shigong Zheng’s departure has attracted widespread attention in the industry.

Dingdao Zhixin was established in January 2022 with a registered capital of 300 million yuan, fully owned by Lenovo, focusing on edge-side chip development. At its peak, the team size approached 500 people, but since 2024, it has begun to optimize personnel configurations. According to insiders, Dingdao Zhixin sought acquisition last year but was unsuccessful, and recently underwent another round of adjustments, with the proportion of departing employees reaching double digits, primarily due to the expiration of three-year contracts without renewal.

The Mystery of the 5nm Chip Tape-Out

Since its establishment over three years ago, Dingdao Zhixin has not publicly released any products, but rumors of a 5nm chip tape-out caused a stir in the industry during the company’s early days. In September 2022, there were reports that its self-developed Arm architecture 5nm chip had successfully tape-out, but no product has been released to date. At that time, the industry speculated that the chip might be used in tablets and was even seen as Lenovo’s attempt to emulate Apple’s self-developed M series chips. However, Lenovo Group executives have rarely mentioned the topic of self-developed chips in public, and product release plans have not materialized.

Lenovo's Self-Developed Chip Team General Manager Reportedly Resigns!

Analysts believe that this adjustment may be directly related to Lenovo’s strategic decisions at the executive level. Dingdao Zhixin may further optimize personnel configurations, and the self-developed chip business may face directional adjustments.

Jia Zhaohui Takes Over: What Lies Ahead for Lenovo’s Self-Developed Chip Business?

How will the Lenovo self-developed chip team develop under Jia Zhaohui’s leadership? As a Senior Vice President of Lenovo Group, Jia Zhaohui has extensive experience in the consumer electronics field, but his background in chip development is relatively weak. Whether this personnel change indicates that Lenovo will adjust its strategic positioning for self-developed chips remains to be seen in future developments.

Moreover, Lenovo’s layout in the chip field is not limited to Dingdao Zhixin. In 2024, Lenovo invested in AI PC startup Cixin Technology, which released the 6nm AI PC chip “Cixin P1.” This achievement is seen as a reflection of Lenovo’s strategy of “walking on two legs” in the chip field.

The Normalization of Talent Mobility in the Chip Industry

In recent years, there have been frequent executive changes in the chip field, such as Liang Jun, CTO of Cambricon, and Jiao Yang, head of AI chips at Li Auto, who left due to strategic disagreements or adjustments in business priorities. Shigong Zheng’s departure further confirms that even leading companies need to seek a balance between technological investment and commercialization pace. Whether Lenovo can achieve breakthroughs in the chip field still needs to be observed in terms of the technical implementation capabilities after the team restructuring.

Source: Internet

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Lenovo's Self-Developed Chip Team General Manager Reportedly Resigns!

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