en.Wedoany.com Reported - Guangdong, once plagued by a "strong terminals, weak manufacturing" chip shortage, has in recent years formed a unique wafer manufacturing cluster through differentiated layout. The province's cities have clear divisions of labor, covering Guangzhou's 12-inch logic and sensors, Shenzhen's mature processes and memory, Zhuhai's RF compounds, and Foshan and Dongguan's silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) power devices, building an industrial closed loop of manufacturing, design, packaging, and testing.

Guangzhou, as the core hub for 12-inch wafer manufacturing in South China, is the only city in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to house all three specialty production lines: 12-inch silicon-based, silicon carbide (SiC), and micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS). The Huangpu, Nansha, and Zengcheng districts each have their own focus. CanSemi Technology, located in the Huangpu District, is the first 12-inch specialty process wafer fab in the Greater Bay Area to achieve mass production and is a leading local wafer manufacturer in Guangdong, having passed its IPO review. The fab operates processes from 180nm to 22nm, focusing on BCD, silicon photonics, and automotive analog processes. Phases 1, 2, and 3 have achieved a monthly production capacity of 63,300 wafers; Phase 4 is scheduled to begin construction in early 2026, with an investment of 25.2 billion yuan, adding a monthly capacity of 40,000 wafers, and is expected to commence production in 2029. Upon full completion, the total monthly capacity will reach 120,000 wafers. Its core products include power management chips, silicon photonics chips, automotive microcontrollers, and fingerprint sensor chips. It is the only manufacturer in China to mass-produce a 12-inch silicon photonics wafer platform on a large scale, with orders booked through 2027. In the Nansha District, Core Energy Semiconductor is a leading domestic automotive-grade silicon carbide wafer manufacturing base. Leveraging Geely's automotive industry chain, it has built 6-inch and 8-inch SiC production lines with a total investment of 7.5 billion yuan. Phase 1 has an annual capacity of 240,000 wafers and reached full production capacity by the end of 2024. Core products include SiC MOSFETs and Schottky diodes, specifically for new energy vehicle electronic controls, photovoltaic inverters, and energy storage equipment. In the Zengcheng District, ZC Technology operates China's first dedicated 12-inch MEMS smart sensor wafer production line. Phase 1 investment is 7 billion yuan, with a planned monthly capacity of 20,000 wafers, expected to begin batch delivery by the end of 2026. It focuses on acoustic, mechanical, and optical sensor chips, catering to AI terminals and autonomous driving perception needs, aiming to fill the gap in sensor manufacturing in South China.

Shenzhen boasts the strongest chip design industry in China. Through its two major manufacturing areas, Pingshan and Longgang, it achieves close synergy between design and manufacturing. The city's chip manufacturing output value has exceeded 10 billion yuan. SMIC's Shenzhen fab in Pingshan District is the only SMIC-owned wafer manufacturing base in South China, operating 8-inch and 12-inch production lines covering power analog and mature logic processes from 0.35µm to 0.15µm, providing foundry services for consumer electronics, industrial power supplies, and automotive chips. Also in Pingshan, Pengxinxu Semiconductor focuses on 12-inch mature process foundry, specializing in 40nm and 28nm processes, serving memory supporting and consumer electronics main control chips. In Longgang District, Pengxinwei Integrated Circuit is a key 12-inch 28nm logic production line built by local state capital, primarily targeting automotive electronics, image sensors, and RF mixed-signal chips. Shengweiixu Semiconductor is a core domestic foundry for niche memory, with its 12-inch production line planning a monthly capacity of 140,000 wafers, focusing on NOR Flash memory chips for IoT and automotive storage. Founder Microelectronics, an established 6-inch compound integrated device manufacturer, is simultaneously deploying SiC and GaAs production lines. By 2026, its SiC annual capacity will reach 500,000 wafers, with stable supply of automotive-grade power devices.

Zhuhai avoids the intense competition in silicon-based capacity, focusing on the 6-inch compound semiconductor track, specializing in 5G RF, fast-charging GaN, and Micro LED display wafers. In the High-tech Zone, Huaxin Microelectronics (Gechuang Huaxin) has a 6-inch gallium arsenide (GaAs) wafer production line, which began pilot runs at the end of 2024 and entered full mass production in 2025. It uses a 2µm HBT process, supplying 5G mobile phone RF power amplifiers and WiFi chips. Dingtai Xinyuan operates a 6-inch gallium nitride (GaN) wafer manufacturing line, targeting fast-charging power supplies and communication base station power devices. In the Jinwan District, HC Semitek has established a Micro LED compound wafer manufacturing base, producing nearly 60,000 chip wafers annually, serving AR/VR devices and commercial large-screen display industries.

Leveraging its local home appliance and industrial equipment industries, Foshan focuses on 8-inch power device wafers. Jihua Hengyi Semiconductor operates an 8-inch power wafer fab, specializing in IGBTs and MOSFETs, as well as industrial power chips, serving local equipment manufacturing and new energy supporting industries. Xindong Semiconductor (Nanhai) provides 6-inch rectifier devices and low-to-medium power MOS wafer foundry, targeting the low-end power market for home appliances and fast charging.

Dongguan has become a major hub for the domestic silicon carbide industry chain, covering everything from substrate epitaxy to wafer manufacturing, supporting the new energy vehicle industry. Tianyu Semiconductor is a leading domestic SiC integrated fab, simultaneously deploying 6-inch SiC substrate and device manufacturing, with products covering automotive and photovoltaic power chips. Zhongtu Semiconductor is a leader in GaN epitaxy and wafer manufacturing, a core supplier for fast-charging and RF power devices.

Other cities in Guangdong also have their unique characteristics. In Zhongshan, Mulinsen Semiconductor focuses on 4-inch and 6-inch LED optoelectronic device wafer manufacturing, primarily for lighting and Mini LED display chips. In Jiangmen, Yixin Semiconductor is currently under construction, planning an 8-inch power wafer production line to fill the power chip capacity gap in western Guangdong. In Huizhou, CSOT Semiconductor provides 6-inch and 8-inch display driver IC specialty wafer foundry, deeply supporting the local panel industry.

Guangdong's wafer manufacturing has formed three unique advantages. First, it avoids internal competition through differentiated development, not blindly chasing advanced processes but instead focusing on mature analog, power, third-generation semiconductors, and sensors in the 55nm to 180nm range, aligning with the massive terminal demands of the Greater Bay Area. Second, it achieves full-chain closed-loop synergy, forming an industrial loop of "Guangzhou manufacturing, Shenzhen design, Dongguan packaging and testing, Zhuhai compound supporting," with upstream and downstream enterprises just one to two hours apart by car. Third, capacity continues to expand rapidly, with multi-billion-yuan projects like CanSemi Phase 4, ZC Technology, and Core Energy Semiconductor concentrated in the region. It is expected that from 2026 to 2029, wafer capacity will be released intensively, gradually reducing China's dependence on foreign analog and power chips.