By Kate Yuan

CanaanTek (迦美信芯), a Chinese 5G RF microchip supplier, won the Market Breakthrough Company of the Year Award together with four other firms at the 2023 China Semiconductor Investment Alliance (CSIA) Annual Meeting & China IC Top Award Ceremony held on December 17 in Hefei, eastern China's Anhui Province.

The other four winners are Biwintech (佰维存储), GONA-SEMI (果纳半导体), NuVolta (伏达半导体), and DIOO (帝奥微电子)

CanaanTek’s large antenna switch CAN1692 has sold more than 100 million pieces, contributing RMB40 million ($5.73 million) in revenue. CAN1692 is a large switch of the highly integrated module chip DiFEM applied in 5G smartphones. So far it is the first of such a product category with mass production in China, adopting domestically leading SOI process, according to the award announcement.

Founded in 2008, Shanghai-based CanaanTek produces more than 50 types of products like antenna tuners, 4G and 5G RF switches and low-noise amplifiers with independent intellectual property rights. Its clients include Samsung, Xiaomi, OPPO, and Transsion.

CanaanTek’s compound annual growth rate of revenue has reached up to 200-300% in the past three years, and has become one of the fastest growing RF front-end chip companies.

From 2020 to 2021, the company attracted over RMB300 million ($42.99 million) investment from investors Shenzhen Capital Group, Yonghua Capital, Softbank China, and Cowin Capital.

The company will develop chips of automotive grade and millimeter waves. It is also constructing a European design and development center on RF front-end chips for smartphone and smart device manufacturers.

The Market Breakthrough Company of the Year Award aims to recognize tech companies whose products have achieved annual sales of more than RMB100 million ($14.33 million) in 2022 and with independent intellectual property rights.