TBC Home →

A Tech Buzz China research product

China Chip Stack

A visual map of China's semiconductor stack segments, showing the global reference points, Chinese anchor companies, use-case relevance, and the current gap to the frontier.

Explore the Stack →
Tech Buzz China
China Semiconductor Stack
2026
17Stack segmentsMapped across the full value chain · see the reports →105Company profilesPublic and private Chinese anchors · browse them →$1.68TTracked market cap90 listed companies · Oct 4, 2026 · industry view →$91.2BTracked annual revenue90 listed companies · latest FY · industry view →

Why this exists

Semiconductors are the infrastructure layer behind China's AI, robotics, EV, and industrial ambitions.

This tracker is organized by stack segment. The companies are reference points for understanding where China has credible capacity, where substitution is plausible, and where the frontier still runs through foreign chokepoints.

LeadingChina is at or ahead of the global frontier in this slice.Near leadCan compete near the global frontier in many use cases.Close behindReal Chinese capability, but the gap is still visible.SubstituteGood enough for substitution, not yet frontier performance.BottleneckA chokepoint where China still depends heavily on foreign capability.UnknownToo early or too opaque to call with confidence.

Stack map

China's semiconductor stack, segment by segment

Use-case relevance is shown across AI, robotics, EV/auto, consumer/IoT, and industrial systems.

CoreHighMediumLowCore means this segment is central to that use case; Low means mostly indirect exposure.

Company names are representative anchors, not exhaustive rankings. They locate the segment; they do not settle every company debate.

Segment
AI training
AI inference
Robotics
EV / auto
Consumer / IoT
Industrial
China position
Compute5 segments
AI acceleratorsChina: Huawei Ascend / Biren / Moore ThreadsGlobal: Nvidia (United States, NVDA) / AMD (United States, AMD)
Core
Core
Medium
High
High
High
Substitute
CPUChina: Loongson / Phytium / HygonGlobal: Intel (United States, INTC) / AMD (United States, AMD)
High
High
High
High
High
Core
Close behind
MCUChina: GigaDevice / Nationz / ChipseaGlobal: STMicroelectronics (Switzerland, STM) / Infineon (Germany, IFX.DE)
Low
Medium
Core
Core
Core
Core
Close behind
Analog / powerChina: SG Micro / 3PEAK / NovosenseGlobal: Texas Instruments (United States, TXN) / Analog Devices (United States, ADI)
High
High
Core
Core
Core
Core
Substitute
ConnectivityChina: Huawei / ZTE Microelectronics / MaxscendGlobal: Broadcom (United States, AVGO) / Marvell (United States, MRVL)
Core
High
High
High
Core
High
Substitute
Memory1 segment
MemoryChina: CXMT / YMTC / JHICCGlobal: SK hynix (South Korea, 000660.KS) / Samsung (South Korea, 005930.KS)
Core
Core
High
High
High
High
Bottleneck
Sensing2 segments
Image sensorsChina: OmniVision / SmartSens / GalaxyCoreGlobal: Sony Semiconductor (Japan, 6758.T / SONY) / Samsung (South Korea, 005930.KS)
Low
High
Core
Core
Core
High
Near lead
Lidar / radarChina: Hesai ecosystem / RoboSense ecosystem / CalterahGlobal: Mobileye (Israel, MBLY) / Infineon (Germany, IFX.DE)
Low
Medium
Core
Core
Low
High
Leading
Design2 segments
EDAChina: Empyrean / Primarius / XpeedicGlobal: Synopsys (United States, SNPS) / Cadence (United States, CDNS)
Core
Core
Core
Core
Core
Core
Bottleneck
IP coresChina: Alibaba T-Head / Nuclei / VeriSiliconGlobal: Arm (United Kingdom, ARM) / Synopsys IP (United States, SNPS)
High
High
High
High
Core
High
Substitute
Manufacturing3 segments
FoundryChina: SMIC / Hua Hong / NexchipGlobal: TSMC (Taiwan, 2330.TW / TSM) / Samsung Foundry (South Korea, 005930.KS)
Core
Core
High
High
High
High
Bottleneck
Advanced packagingChina: JCET / Tongfu Microelectronics / HuatianGlobal: TSMC (Taiwan, 2330.TW / TSM) / ASE (Taiwan, 3711.TW / ASX)
Core
Core
Medium
Medium
Medium
High
Substitute
Assembly & testChina: JCET / Tongfu Microelectronics / HuatianGlobal: ASE (Taiwan, 3711.TW / ASX) / Amkor (United States, AMKR)
High
High
High
Core
High
High
Close behind
Equipment3 segments
LithographyChina: SiCarrier / SMEEGlobal: ASML (Netherlands, ASML) / Nikon (Japan, 7731.T)
Core
Core
High
High
High
High
Bottleneck
Deposition / etchChina: NAURA / SiCarrier / AMECGlobal: Applied Materials (United States, AMAT) / Lam Research (United States, LRCX)
Core
Core
High
High
High
High
Substitute
CMP polishing toolsChina: Hwatsing / GEGV (Jingyi Jingwei) / SIZONEGlobal: Applied Materials (United States, AMAT) / Ebara (Japan, 6361.T)
Core
Core
High
High
High
High
Close behind
Materials1 segment
MaterialsChina: National Silicon / Anji Microelectronics / Dinglong Co.Global: Shin-Etsu (Japan, 4063.T) / SUMCO (Japan, 3436.T)
Core
Core
High
High
High
High
Substitute