DIGITIMES Insight: China's GaN challengers are no longer playing catch-up

The IPO of芯旺微 in Hong Kong, China marks a pivotal moment for China’s gallium nitride power semiconductor industry. This move not only provides capital for technological advancement and capacity expansion but also signals a potential reshuffling of global supply chains. Upstream, it accelerates the adoption of GaN in high-end sectors like electric vehicles and 5G infrastructure, pressuring substrate and epitaxy vendors to improve output. From a compliance standpoint, tightening international export controls force companies to reassess reliance on foreign suppliers, spurring domestic substitution. In competitive terms, leading players may accelerate M&A to solidify technological moats. Over the next 12–24 months, the GaN market will see concurrent capacity growth and innovation, intensifying competition between Taiwan, China and European manufacturers in advanced process nodes.