By Kate Yuan

(JW Insights) May 26 -- JW Insights released the ranking of total number R&D personnel of 173 listed Chinese semiconductor companies on May 24. Two-thirds of them saw an increase in R&D personnel ratio compared to 2021, and Chinese ODM giant Wingtech (闻泰科技) had the most R&D personnel (7,098).

Semiconductor companies have a high reliance on R&D. Although the industry has been affected by the downward cycle with a wave of layoffs, these Chinese companies have not stopped recruiting R&D talents.

Of the 173 companies, 33 have more than 1,000 R&D staff with 11 over 2,000, including Wingtech (7,098), Ninestar (纳思达4,590), HT-tech (华天科技4,252), Silan Microelectronics (士兰微3,351), and NavInfo (四维图新2,975).

There are 150 companies that disclosed the changes in their R&D staff numbers from last year: 129 saw an increase while 21 decreased. The top five companies with the greatest increase in R&D personnel were Nexchip Semiconductor (晶合集成189.2%), Dagang Group (大港股份125.7%), Changchuan Technology (长川科技93.5%), Jianghua Microelectronics (江化微92.2%), and Maxscend Microelectronics (卓胜微83.4%).

The companies that reduced the most in R&D personnel were Taiji Industry (太极实业-59.2%), Goodix Technology (汇顶科技-21.2%), Eastsoft (东软载波-18.5%), Tronly (强力新材-17.5%), and Truchum (楚江新材-17.2%).

In terms of ratio of R&D personnel to the total number of employees, there were 50 companies with a ratio exceeding 50%, and 11 companies with a ratio exceeding 80%, including Hygon (海光信息), Beken Corporation (博通集成), ASR Microelectronics (翱捷科技), Goodix, VeriSilicon (芯原股份).

Nexchip, Cmsemicon (中微半导), and Goke Microelectronics (国科微) increased by over 10 percentage points in R&D personnel ratio, while Taiji Industry, GalaxyCore (格科微), and Eastsoft saw a decrease of over 10 percentage points.

Fifteen companies strengthened their R&D force despite the decrease in total employee number, including JCET (长电科技), USI (环旭电子), CCTC (三环集团), Kaifa, HC Semitek (华灿光电). However, there were also 10 companies where the total number of employees increased but the R&D personnel decreased, such as TF Microelectronics, Taiji Industry, Truchum, Cambrian(寒武纪), and GalaxyCore.

“Although the semiconductor industry has experienced a wave of layoffs in the past year, IC companies are unlikely to slow down their pace to attract the R&D talents in order to enhance medium- to long-term competitiveness. After all, companies must continue to develop new products and lead the industry with cutting-edge technologies,” a JW Insights analyst said.