Two major wafer fabs release annual reports: SMIC establishes an Advanced Packaging Research Institute, and Jinghe Integration targets AI server power management chips.

Every journalist｜Zhu Chengxiang Every editor｜Huang Bowen

On the evening of March 26, two A-share wafer foundry companies released their 2025 annual reports. According to TrendForce, in the global wafer foundry rankings for the fourth quarter of 2025, SMIC and JCET are both in the top ten. Among them, SMIC ranks third, behind TSMC and Samsung.

It is noteworthy that SMIC (SH688981, stock price 96.88 yuan, market capitalization 775.18 billion yuan), which has long focused on wafer foundry, is also beginning to pay attention to advanced packaging. In this annual report, SMIC stated that the company is collaborating with upstream and downstream partners to carry out industry chain cooperation and has established an advanced packaging research institute to support high-quality development in the industry.

As for JCET (SH688249, stock price 27.94 yuan, market capitalization 56.092 billion yuan), its main foundry product was originally DDIC (display driver), but it has continuously expanded into CIS (camera sensor) business. In the wave of AI, JCET is now targeting power management chips related to AI servers, and has already started research and development, with 90nm BCD (a type of process platform) products currently undergoing validation.

Is SMIC also researching advanced packaging?

In 2025, the rapid development of AI (artificial intelligence) and the resulting price increases in memory chips will have a significant impact on the semiconductor industry. So, how does SMIC view this?

The company stated that as downstream application scenarios become more diverse, fields such as artificial intelligence, data centers, and autonomous driving are leading the industry into a new round of rapid growth cycles. The iteration and upgrade of smart terminals such as consumer electronics, along with the accelerated localization of the industry chain, further enhance the demand for domestic mid-to-high-end chip manufacturing. Against this backdrop, the company focuses on cultivating and developing new productive forces and continues to innovate to solidify its core competitive advantages.

In 2025, the company will maintain high R&D investment, with R&D expenditures of 5.519 billion yuan, accounting for 8.2% of sales revenue; improve its technological innovation system, actively respond to customer needs, and continuously promote process iteration and product upgrades; collaborate with upstream and downstream partners to carry out industry chain cooperation and establish an advanced packaging research institute to support high-quality development in the industry.

It is reported that SMIC has always focused on front-end wafer manufacturing and once jointly invested with domestic packaging and testing leader JCET to establish the advanced packaging manufacturer SMIC JCET. However, SMIC later sold its relevant shares in SMIC JCET, which is the predecessor of Shenghe Jingwei. Currently, Shenghe Jingwei has grown into a leading advanced packaging company in China.

Regarding the establishment of the advanced packaging research institute, SMIC did not elaborate, but it may spark various speculations from the outside world. Currently, the constraints on AI chips are not only advanced processes but also advanced packaging.

Looking ahead to 2026, SMIC stated that the overseas return of the industry chain and the effect of domestic customers replacing old overseas products with new ones will continue, bringing sustained growth space for the domestic industry chain. The strong demand for memory chips driven by artificial intelligence has squeezed the supply of memory chips in other application areas, especially in the mid-to-low-end sectors, leaving terminal manufacturers in these areas facing pressure from insufficient supply and rising prices of memory chips. Even if terminal manufacturers can pass on the increased costs through price hikes, it will lead to reduced demand for terminal products.

The company, leveraging its technological reserves and leading advantages in sub-sectors such as BCD, analog, storage, MCU (microcontroller), and mid-to-high-end display drivers, as well as its customers’ product layouts, can still maintain a favorable position in this round of industry development cycle. The company will actively respond to market demands and promote revenue growth in 2026.

Under the premise that the external environment does not change significantly, SMIC gives a 2026 guidance of: sales revenue growth rate higher than the average of comparable peers, and capital expenditures remaining roughly the same as in 2025.

JCET is gradually rising.

When it comes to wafer foundry, SMIC and Hua Hong Semiconductor are often mentioned, and JCET, located in Hefei, is also slowly rising. It is reported that JCET is a leading 12-inch wafer foundry company with advanced manufacturing capabilities and capacity advantages. According to TrendForce’s revenue ranking of global wafer foundry companies for the fourth quarter of 2025, JCET ranks ninth globally and third among mainland Chinese companies.

In 2025, JCET’s operating revenue was 10.885 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 17.69%; net profit attributable to the parent company was 704 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 32.16%. JCET stated that the revenue growth was mainly due to an increase in product sales and continuous growth in revenue scale during the reporting period.

Currently, JCET’s main products include DDIC, CIS, PMIC (power management integrated circuits), Logic (logic chips), and MCU. Although the company’s main business revenue during the reporting period mainly came from DDIC, which accounted for about 58.06% of revenue, this is a decrease of 9.44 percentage points compared to the 67.50% share in 2024, while the revenue share of CIS products increased by 5.38 percentage points compared to 2024, indicating an improvement in product structure.

JCET stated that although the company is conducting research and continuous optimization of other technology platforms such as PMIC, MCU, and Logic, and actively expanding the market, it will take time for new products to achieve scalable revenue. In the short term, if demand in the display driver chip market and image sensor market declines, leading to adverse changes in production or sales in this area, it may negatively impact the company’s profitability and operating cash flow.

In fact, with the development of CIS, JCET has gradually freed itself from the dependence on the “single-core” drive of DDIC. If PMIC products ramp up in production, its product sales may become more balanced.