As China launches an anti-dumping probe into U.S.-made analog chips, assessments say U.S. corporations will take a hit in China while Chinese corporations are expected to benefit.
On the 14th, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) in Hong Kong, citing experts and industry analysis, projected that fortunes will diverge for U.S. and Chinese firms as an anti-dumping investigation into U.S.-made products in China—the world's largest consumer of analog chips and a rapidly growing market—will continue for at least a year.
Analog chips are semiconductors that handle continuous analog signals such as sound or voltage. Most are produced using mature 90-nanometer to 300-nanometer process technology and are mainly used in areas such as power management, audio equipment, communications systems, sensors, and automation systems.
Earlier, China's Ministry of Commerce posted a notice on its website on the 13th announcing it would begin an anti-dumping investigation into U.S.-made imported analog chips through Sept. 13, 2026. General-purpose interface chips and gate driver chips with process nodes of 40 nanometers (nm; one-billionth of a meter) or larger imported from the United States are subject to the probe.
For now, sales in China of major U.S. analog chip corporations such as "Texas Instruments" and "Analog Devices" are expected to be hit. By contrast, Chinese firms including Silergy, SG Micro, Southchip, JOULWATT, and Novosense are expected to benefit.
Zhang Guobin, founder of the Chinese semiconductor industry information site eetrend.com (電子創新網), said that most Chinese analog chip corporations are fabless (semiconductor design specialists) and have faced heavy expense management pressure, adding that the probe will create "a healthier development environment for Chinese analog chip manufacturers."