Backed by the 300-billion-yuan power supply chip market, Shuixin Electronics is making every effort to create "Chinese chips".
Power chips are one of the core components of electronic devices and are known as the "power housekeepers". Their main function is to provide stable and reliable voltage and current to other electronic components by regulating the input electrical energy. China is the world's largest consumer market for analog chips, accounting for more than one-third of the global market. Data from the Zhongshang Industry Research Institute shows that the scale of China's analog chip market is expected to reach 317.58 billion yuan in 2024.
Behind the huge market demand is the fact that the self-sufficiency rate of domestic analog chips has been hovering at a low level for years. In 2023, the self-sufficiency rate was only about 15%, and the localization rate of high-end digital power chips was only 3%. There is a vast space for domestic substitution. With the advancement of technologies such as AI and the Internet of Things, coupled with the growing market demand from downstream applications such as the automotive, industrial, and consumer electronics sectors, the analog chip industry has entered a period of rapid development, and many start-up companies have emerged.
Shuixin Electronics is a start-up company focusing on reconfigurable digital power chips. It was the first in China to propose the concept of reconfigurable digital power chips and successfully achieved mass production. Through software reconfiguration and optimization alone, a small number of chip models can meet various application requirements. Reconfigurable digital power chips have multiple features such as low power consumption, high cost-effectiveness, small size, ease of use, and high customization.
In the recently held second season of the "Lenovo New Business Innovation Ecosystem Roadshow", Shuixin Electronics was selected as one of the TOP 10 projects and became a rising star in the Lenovo ecosystem. The fact that Shuixin Electronics won this honor is not only an affirmation of their technical strength but also a long - standing commitment of Lenovo's Small and Medium - Business Group: to provide all - around, high - quality, one - stop services to start - up companies and to move forward hand in hand with customers and witness their success.
As the core carrier for Lenovo Group to play the role of the industrial chain leader and drive the integrated innovation of start - up companies, the Lenovo Star Program for Start - up Companies has built a three - dimensional empowerment system of technology enablement, industrial collaboration, and capital acceleration. Start - up companies that join the Lenovo Star Program will have the opportunity to receive all - around and multi - dimensional support from Lenovo Group, the "chain leader", including but not limited to joint R & D in production, opening up of the ecosystem, capital support, business expansion, brand and service enablement, etc. Since the launch of the "Star Program for Start - up Companies", it has successfully helped hundreds of start - up companies to accelerate their development and has become an important link for Lenovo and small and medium - sized enterprises to move forward together and empower each other. In the context of accelerating the cultivation of new productive forces, the Lenovo Star Program for Start - up Companies will continue to expand the recruitment scale of ecological partners and looks forward to building a value - sharing community with more industrial innovation forces and jointly climbing to new heights in global technological competition.
Breaking through, starting from reconfigurable digital power chips
Realizing the leap of Chinese power chips from lagging behind to surpassing is a long journey. This time, Shuixin Electronics has chosen to start with reconfigurable digital power chips.
Reconfigurable digital power chips represent a new technological breakthrough in the field of power management. They use digital signal processing (DSP) or embedded microcontrollers (MCU) for power management and adjust parameters such as voltage, current, and power in real - time through software algorithms. Compared with traditional analog power chips, the advantages of reconfigurable digital power chips are mainly reflected in the following aspects:
First, they are highly flexible and support multi - function integration. Without changing the hardware, the internal logic and functional modules of the chip can be reconfigured. Through software control, the chip can integrate more functions, such as current protection, thermal protection, load regulation, and power distribution, without the need for additional hardware support.
Second, they offer high - precision control and high efficiency. Digital control allows for more precise voltage and current regulation. Through real - time calculation and adjustment, errors can be reduced, and power efficiency can be improved. The algorithm can also optimize power output and enhance the overall system efficiency.
Third, they have built - in multiple protection functions and higher reliability. Through real - time monitoring and feedback mechanisms, problems such as overload or overheating can be avoided, ensuring the long - term stable operation of the power system.
Wu Yuchun introduced that reconfigurable digital power chips are the core technology of Shuixin Electronics. "With the development of advanced digital processes, the cost is now lower than that of analog power chips, and it can greatly accelerate the domestic substitution of imported high - end power chips."
Promoting the localization of digital power chips, always on the way
In 2007, Wu Yuchun joined the globally renowned semiconductor company ADI. During his tenure, he won the first place in the EDN Global Innovation Award for the digital power chip ADP1043. It was his work at ADI that made him realize the broad prospects and infinite business opportunities in the application of digital power chips. In 2011, he resigned from his job in Silicon Valley and founded a digital power chip company, Suzhou Yieneng Microelectronics Technology Co., Ltd., in China, aiming to develop domestic digital power chips.
His first entrepreneurial experience allowed Wu Yuchun to gain a lot of technical and management experience. In 2020, he founded Shuixin Electronics. At the beginning of his second venture, he and his team conducted an in - depth analysis of the current situation and trends of the domestic and international power chip markets: the market has long been monopolized by foreign giants, the domestic self - sufficiency rate is low, and the demand from downstream applications is growing rapidly. Wu Yuchun then determined the company's development direction: to research and develop reconfigurable digital power chips and promote the digitalization process of analog power chips.
With a firm belief in promoting the localization of chips and relying on the team's years of technical accumulation and experience, Shuixin Electronics quickly embarked on the fast track of domestic digital power development. Currently, using the reconfigurable digital power chip technology, Shuixin Electronics has successfully developed a series of products such as DSP high - power power/motor chips, VRMs, and fast - charging chips.
In addition to self - research, Shuixin Electronics has also built a fast - charging SOC development platform. Through technology licensing and cooperation, it fully opens up various fast - charging hardware and software designs and materials, such as providing schematics, BOMs, GUI configuration/SDK software packages, and Layout instructions. Customers can conduct secondary development based on the standard solutions provided by Shuixin Electronics according to their specific application needs and quickly complete the hardware and software that meet the applications.
The above two - pronged approach has enabled Shuixin Electronics to achieve greater business results in a shorter time. Currently, Shuixin Electronics' self - developed products are widely used in high - end consumer markets, industrial, and automotive markets. At the same time, many chip companies, even listed chip companies, have obtained technology licenses from Shuixin and applied the technology in various fields such as fast - charging, power tools, drones, mobile phones, laptops, PCs, automobiles, and industry.
Currently, in the chip field, the involution and homogeneous competition in the domestic market are intensifying. Wu Yuchun deeply feels this. He believes that the development of the Chinese power chip industry mostly emphasizes doing Pin to Pin substitution, which leads to product homogenization and price involution. He requires Shuixin Electronics not to follow European and American large companies to produce some homogeneous digital power chips but to provide new and valuable products to the market through its own technological innovation.
Wu Yuchun said, "Currently, in addition to targeting the high - power power market aimed at by European and American large companies such as Texas Instruments and STMicroelectronics, we have also expanded digital power chips to the low - power market, which is also the main difference and competitiveness between us and other manufacturers."
After painstaking research and development, the company will be the first to launch a full - series of DSP chips with the highest computing power in China in 2025, which are compatible with TI c2000 in terms of hardware and software, and will enter the commercialization stage.
Looking forward to joining the ecosystem and achieving mutual empowerment
Although Shuixin Electronics has achieved certain results, Wu Yuchun is aware of the company's remaining deficiencies. Compared with large companies and unicorns, early - stage start - up companies "have relatively weak financial strength, and their brand influence needs to be improved."
Therefore, when he learned about the competition information of the second season of the "Lenovo New Business Innovation Ecosystem Roadshow", Wu Yuchun quickly submitted the registration materials.
In the impression of this veteran entrepreneur, Lenovo is one of the representatives of Chinese technology companies that have successfully achieved globalization of brands and products. From traditional desktops and laptops to smartphones, tablets, and smart wearables, Lenovo can provide a wide variety of product choices to meet the needs of different consumers and enterprises.
Wu Yuchun frankly said that by participating in this roadshow, Shuixin Electronics hopes to conduct in - depth technical exchanges with Lenovo and other enterprises, expand business areas and cooperation opportunities, and also hopes to connect with many investment institutions on - site to obtain more financing support. By observing the AI application scenario demonstrations of Lenovo and other enterprises, he also began to think about how to focus on the combination with AI technology in technological R & D and explore new product directions and business models. "Optimizing the energy consumption management of power chips through AI algorithms and improving the intelligence level of power systems may be considered in the next step," Wu Yuchun said.
Shuixin Electronics' chips can be applied in the AC/DC and multi - phase DC/DC fields of AI PCs/SERVERs and are also the core chips for robots. In Wu Yuchun's vision, if Shuixin Electronics can join the Lenovo ecosystem, it will be a mutual empowerment with a result of 1 + 1>2: "Shuixin Electronics can cooperate with Lenovo to develop customized power solutions for specific application scenarios, such as Lenovo's high - end laptops and mobile phones, to improve the user experience. At the same time, through Lenovo's brand influence and market channel advantages, more people can get to know and understand Shuixin Electronics' power chip products."
In the past year, Shuixin Electronics achieved nearly 30 million yuan in sales, and this year it is expected to exceed 100 million yuan. Recently, the company has introduced a new round of equity financing. On the digital power chip track, Shuixin Electronics is becoming one of the players that cannot be ignored. With the opportunity to receive support from Lenovo and the Lenovo ecosystem in the future, Wu Yuchun is full of confidence in the entrepreneurial journey.