Fortune Booming | Frost & Sullivan Supports Hefei Jinghe Integrated Circuit Co., Ltd. in Successfully Listing in Hong Kong (2249.HK)

Benefiting from the rapid growth of high-tech demands such as Consumer Electronics, Automotive Electronics, and Artificial Intelligence technology, the global semiconductor industry has developed rapidly. The global wafer foundry market increased from $100.2 billion in 2021 to $174.7 billion in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 14.9%. Although there was a slight decline in 2023 due to the shrinking IC market downstream, it is expected that by 2030, the global market will reach $295.5 billion, with a compound annual growth rate of 10.7%. The sales of the Chinese mainland wafer foundry market increased from $9.4 billion in 2021 to $17.2 billion in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 16.3%. The market share of the Chinese mainland in the global market increased from 9.4% in 2021 to 9.8% in 2025. It is expected that with further acceleration of domestic supply chain integration, the Chinese mainland wafer foundry market will continue to expand, with a compound annual growth rate of 15.1% from 2026 to 2030, reaching $34.7 billion by 2030, and its market share in the global market is predicted to be 11.8%.

The global wafer foundry market has a high concentration, with Taiwanese manufacturers dominating for a long time and having advantages in advanced processes. However, Chinese mainland manufacturers are rapidly expanding in mature processes and have taken multiple positions among the top ten globally, gradually narrowing the gap thanks to local customer needs and rapid technological evolution. Overall, advanced processes are highly concentrated, while mature processes show a trend of regional diversification. In 2025, based on wafer foundry revenue, the company was the ninth largest and the third largest wafer foundry enterprise in the Chinese mainland, with market shares of 0.9% and 8.7%, respectively. Between 2020 and 2025, among the top ten global wafer foundry enterprises, MagnaTEC had the highest growth rate in capacity and revenue.

The rapid expansion of diverse application scenarios such as Consumer Electronics, Automotive Electronics, and Generative AI is driving continuous improvement in chip functions. These functional improvements enhance the value of each chip, and growing demand ensures economies of scale through mass production. Combining these factors, wafer foundry enterprises can achieve higher average selling prices and stable increases in shipments, both of which promote the development of the wafer foundry business.

• Artificial Intelligence.The main characteristics of the rapid development of Generative AI include increasing model parameters, more frequent training and inference cycles, a significant rise in concurrent online service requests, and stricter latency requirements. These factors collectively require higher computing power, driving upgrades in server configuration and architecture. On one hand, as the core driver, Logic IC enhances processing and interconnection capabilities in high-performance computing, low-latency processing, and high-bandwidth interconnection. On the other hand, high power density and significant load fluctuations pose stricter requirements for power delivery systems.PMICContinuously improving conversion efficiency, transient response, and stable power delivery to support overall energy efficiency and reliability.

• Robot applications.As robots develop into multi-scenario and multi-role applications, core chip requirements are upgrading accordingly. In terms of motion control and safety monitoring, MCUs are evolving toward higher certainty in timing, lower power consumption, and higher reliability.Edge Logic ICEnhancing computing power and low-latency processing capabilities to support local inference and data fusion; CIS applications are deepening perception tasks, and higher resolution, wide dynamic range, and improved weak rotation performance are becoming standard.

• Established nodes in key stability applications.Established nodes remain the only practical choice in several key stability applications. In automotive, industrial control, energy management, and sensor-related scenarios, the ability of chips to operate stably under various conditions is more important than improving process nodes themselves. Many controllers, power supply components, and sensing devices rely on the proven consistency, environmental tolerance, and predictable performance of established processes. Using advanced nodes often makes these features difficult to achieve or unprofitable. Given the long certification periods, strict qualification requirements, and high replacement risks associated with these applications, established nodes maintain a highly irreplaceable position and serve as a stable source of demand over the long term.

• The shift in system-level design paradigms drives the need for mature process technologies.As the system-level chip design paradigm continues to evolve, the role of mature process nodes in the overall semiconductor architecture is being redefined. The shift in system-level design paradigms refers to changes in semiconductor design concepts, where chip design no longer focuses solely on increasing transistor density in a single advanced process node. Instead, modern semiconductor systems are designed at the system level to balance the performance, reliability, power, cost, and long-term stability of different functional modules.

• Domestic substitution.Against the backdrop of increasing global supply chain instability, chip domestic substitution aims to build a self-reliant, secure, and reliable supply chain. The self-sufficiency rate of the Chinese mainland chip industry is gradually increasing. In 2020, the self-sufficiency rate of the Chinese mainland chip industry was only 16.6%. By 2025, it had risen to 30.0%. With the development of the entire chip industry chain and steady progress in domestic substitution, it is expected that by 2030, the self-sufficiency rate of the Chinese mainland chip industry will reach 50.0%.

• Continuous market expansion.According to Frost & Sullivan, from 2026 to 2030, the global mature node IC market size is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 3.5%, reaching $4,128 billion by 2030. Driven by domestic substitution of ICs and rapid growth of new downstream applications such as Automotive Electronics, Generative AI, and robots, the growth rate of the Chinese mainland mature node IC market continues to exceed the global market, rising from $1,247 billion in 2021 to $1,598 billion in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate of 6.4%, and is expected to reach $2,352 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of about 8.0% from 2026 to 2030. Our ability to combine differentiated process technologies with stable manufacturing scale strengthens our position in the global foundry industry, and we are well-prepared to seize market opportunities.

• Technical barriers.The technical barriers in the wafer foundry market are reflected in the high difficulty of developing advanced processes. As the process node shrinks, the requirements for precision and materials increase, and research and development costs grow exponentially. High-end equipment is monopolized by a few international companies, and the production of core equipment involves top-tier technologies in multiple fields and is subject to export restrictions.

• Equipment and material barriers.Wafer foundry relies on various high-end equipment such as lithography machines and etching machines, which have high technical content and are mainly monopolized by foreign companies. For example, in 2020, the domestic substitution rate of lithography machines was less than 1%. A lithography machine contains 100,000 components, and domestic companies still have a gap compared to international advanced levels.

• Customer barriers.There are significant customer barriers in the global and Chinese mainland wafer foundry markets. Globally, leading foundry companies have long-term partnerships with downstream customers, establishing deep cooperation through joint research and development and priority capacity allocation. New entrants find it difficult to break through the existing cooperation system.

• Talent barriers.The wafer foundry industry requires a large number of professionals skilled in advanced semiconductor manufacturing technologies and processes, including engineers and technicians. Talent cultivation requires a long time and extensive practical experience. The global semiconductor talent market is highly competitive, and new companies struggle to establish high-quality talent teams in the short term. Existing companies attract and retain a large number of talents through good working environments and compensation, further increasing the entry barrier for the industry.