8 DDIC Leading Companies in China

With the trend of display supply chain transfer and industrial enhancement in mainland China, a group of leading display driver IC companies and manufacturers are in the progress of new breaking through.

I. SMIC: Production capacity is king and the revenue of mature technology process nodes increases rapidly

- Develop both mature and advanced technology nodes

In the Q3 of 2021, accounting for about 5% of the global wafer foundry market, the company ranked fifth in the world and the first in mainland China.

After 2010, the main products were PLD (Programmable Logic Devices), and the revenue CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) was 14.07% from 2011 to 2020, mainly because of the expansion of production capacity.

In 2020, the wafer foundry accounted for 87% of revenue. From the process node point of view, 0.15/0.18um mature process and 55/65nm nodes contributed the most revenue, accounting for 33% and 31% respectively.

- To meet the growing market demand through steady expansion, and gradually ease the tension of industrial capacity

The company owns three plants for 8-inch and four plants for 12-inch wafer production. The planned capital expenditure for 2021 is approximately RMB 28.1 billion, most of which will be used for the expansion of mature processes, and a small amount for advanced technology, the construction of new joint venture projects in Beijing, and others.

Among them, the plant for 12-inch respective in Beijing and the Shanghai Lingang with the production of 100,000 pcs is expected to be put into production in 2023, and the plant in Shenzhen with the production of 40,000 pcs will achieve mass production in the second half of 2022.

In 2022, the monthly production capacity will reach 600,000 pcs, and the capacity utilization rate will remain above 95%.

- The AMOLED DDIC production capacity continues to grow

Data from Omdia shows the continues growing of AMOLED DDIC production capacity, which will be to reach 7,000-8,000 pcs per month by the end of 2022.

At present, the major customer Raydium occupies about half of the 40nm production capacity. As to Chipone, ESWIN, Huawei HiSilicon, and OmniVision, they are in the process of sampling or sample verification, mass production will begin after the Q2 of 2022 at the earliest, which need the key source support from the new capacity developed by SMIC.

II. Will Semiconductor: Entered into display driver by acquiring Synaptics LCD TDDI (Touch Display Driver Integration)

Will Semiconductor started acquiring Synaptics’ Asia-based TDDI business in April 2020, and obtained the remaining 30% stake in 2021, officially entering the DDIC market.

According to the 2020 annual report, the TDDI business achieved sales revenue of 749 million yuan, and 100% financial consolidation began in the second half of 2021.

Data from CINNO Research, it occupies 6% of the smartphone TFT-LCD driver IC market in 2020 (excluding the share before the settlement of Synaptics TDDI business), ranked fifth.

- TDDI business may return to growth

In 2015, Synaptics started launching the TDDI mass production solution for mobile phones and tablets, occupying the largest market share in the following two years, however, in 2019 its share dropped to 15% and ranked second.

Mainly because of:

(1) More and more competitors. At the TDDI price war stage, US IC manufacturers mainly keep ahead in technology at the initial stage, but not the price, which leads to only 1/3 of the original orders from Apple. After being taken over by Will Semiconductor, who may create high cost- performance products.

(2) As one of the three giants of EDA (Electronic Design Automation) software, Synaptics restricts sanctioned mobile phone manufacturers to use EDA software and provide TDDI, resulting in other domestic brand’s cautiousness in choosing US companies, the loss of some orders from domestic Android group, and Novatek taking the benefit from it. After the acquisition, it is expected to re-coordinate with domestic manufacturers and seize TDDI orders back from Novatek, FocalTech, and other Taiwan enterprises, achieving a significantly increased market share.

III. GalaxyCore: Focus on small and medium-sized markets, gradually changing from Fabless to Fab-Lite mode

- Changing from Fabless to Fab-Lite mode gradually

Founded in 2003, mainly engaged in the design business of PC CMOS image sensors at the beginning, and gradually expanded to the mobile phone CMOS in 2007. In 2012, it realized the mass production of DDIC, enriched the product structure, and improved profitability.

During the last 20 years, by following the market trends to enrich product structure continuously, enhance technical strength, and improve the integration capacity of industrial chain resources, the company has achieved a steady improvement in the market position. In the future, the company plans to change from Fabless mode to Fab-lite mode by building part of the wafer fabrication of a 12-inch BSI Line, part of OCF manufacturing, and other processes.

- The leader in small and medium-sized display drivers, and the shipment volume ranks second in China