A leading Chinese chip design software start-up, X-Epic, is cutting up to half of its workforce, casting doubt on Beijing’s tech self-sufficiency ambitions, according to insiders.
Founded in 2020, X-Epic aimed to develop indigenous electronic design automation (EDA) tools to challenge the dominance of US firms. However, this week the company began job cuts across various departments, including its core research and development unit, according to anonymous sources not authorized to speak to the media.
The privately owned company did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday. As of March 2023, PitchBook data indicated X-Epic employed around 400 people across offices in Nanjing, Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Shenzhen.
Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses, and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.
X-Epic was founded by Wang Libin, a former engineer at US EDA giant Cadence Design Systems. By March 2023, the start-up had raised $121.7 million from investors including HongShan (formerly Sequoia Capital China), Matrix Partners China, and China Information and Communication Technology Group.
Recognized as a rising star among local EDA firms, X-Epic was listed among the Nanjing provincial government’s favored innovative start-ups in May. Alongside other Chinese firms like Empyrean Technology, X-Epic works on software tools for complex chip designs, a field traditionally led by US companies Cadence, Synopsys, and Mentor Graphics, now owned by European giant Siemens.
China’s reliance on imported EDA software is a significant vulnerability in its semiconductor value chain, alongside hardware limitations in lithography machines. US tech sanctions, imposed over national security concerns, restrict China’s access to advanced EDA technology. These sanctions, first enforced in August 2022, prevent the export of gate all-around (GAA)-capable EDA software to China, posing long-term challenges for Chinese chipmakers in adopting advanced processes like the 3-nanometer node and developing high-performance computing or AI chips.
Despite efforts, progress in mastering EDA technology domestically has been slow. The three major foreign vendors control about 70% of China’s EDA market, while Beijing-based Empyrean Technology, the largest Chinese player, holds only a 7% market share, according to JW Insights.
Broader market challenges have impacted Chinese EDA firms, with semiconductor sales dropping 14% last year, the steepest decline globally. Empyrean’s first-quarter net profits fell 64% year-on-year to 7.7 million yuan ($1.1 million) due to increased R&D spending, according to its April financial reports.
Despite these challenges, the value of China’s EDA market is projected to grow to 18.5 billion yuan next year, up from 9.3 billion yuan in 2020, according to the China Semiconductor Industry Association.
This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the leading authority on China and Asia for over a century. For more SCMP stories, explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
https://github.com/serzanx/watchthai/issues/30
https://github.com/serzanx/watchthai/issues/31
https://github.com/Como-V3r/cuevana3-ver-descendants-the-rise-of-red-en-espanol
https://github.com/Pelisflix-descendants4/Ver-descendants4-the-rise-of-red-pelicula-en-espanol
https://www.artstation.com/descendientes-el-ascenso-de-red-ver-descargar-latino-pelisplus/profile
https://www.artstation.com/descendants-4-the-rise-of-red-en-espanol-y-latino/profile
https://www.artstation.com/inside-out-2-thai-full-story-sub/profile
https://www.artstation.com/mi-villano-favorito-4-ver-descargar-latino-pelisplus/profile
https://www.artstation.com/pelisplus-ver-inside-out-2-online-espanol/profile
https://pastelink.net/bzr8xscn
https://www.bitsdujour.com/profiles/NdP9ho
https://open.firstory.me/user/clyiudn8p06rb01006hjsecgx
https://heylink.me/dasweadaxa
https://wokwi.com/projects/403218346931963905
http://training.monro.com/forum/posts/m139015-China-s-Chip-Design-Hopeful–X-Epic–Slashes-Workforce-Amid-Market-Challenges#post139015
https://gtksa.net/bbs/board.php?bo_table=used&wr_id=134851
https://foro.ribbon.es/topic/9566/china-s-chip-design-hopeful
https://forum.potok.digital/topic/2556/china-s-chip-design-hopeful
https://lifeisfeudal.com/Discussions/question/china-s-chip-design-hopeful
https://yuamikamii.copiny.com/question/details/id/857347
