The number of chip companies in China has been declining ever since the U.S. started imposing sanctions against the semiconductor sector in 2019 - 2020. The situation got worse in 2022 - 2023 as demand for chips slowed. More than 22,000 chip-related firms have disappeared since 2019, but 2023 saw record-setting extinction according to DigiTimes (citing TMTPost).
A record 10,900 chip-related companies have lost their registration in 2023 so far — a big jump from the 5,746 companies that folded in 2022, according to the report. That means an average of 30 Chinese chip-related companies closed their doors each day in 2023. This is part of the five-year trend, which saw over 10,000 Chinese chip-related companies close in 2021 - 2022. The spike in 2023 highlights the growing struggles in chip design, semiconductor manufacturing, and wafer fab equipment sectors.
