The popularity of the power semiconductor track has attracted a large number of companies to list on the science and innovation board and the gem. Recently, another power semiconductor enterprise went to the gem for IPO On March 7, Huangshan core Microelectronics Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as core Microelectronics) GEM IPO application was accepted by Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
Chip is a capital intensive and technology intensive industry, which has high requirements for talents. However, the core microelectronics prospectus (application draft) shows that the company has no employees with master’s degree, and only 16 employees with bachelor’s degree, accounting for 2.02%.
Core microelectronics is an IDM manufacturer in the field of power semiconductors. It has formed a multi-dimensional business system focusing on chip design and wafer manufacturing, including upstream materials and rear packaging. In terms of future development planning, it wants to develop into a leading enterprise in the whole industrial chain layout of China’s power semiconductor.
So, can the talent team of core microelectronics support its ambition? The reporter of “daily economic news” called core microelectronics on March 24 and sent an interview letter at the request of the staff of the company. As of press time, no reply has been received.
Vice Minister of R & D, junior high school education only
As of September 20, 2021, core microelectronics has 793 registered employees, including 16 with bachelor’s degree, accounting for 2.02%; 123 people with college degree, accounting for 15.51%; 654 people with high school education or below, accounting for 82.47%.
Among the core technicians of core microelectronics, less than half have bachelor’s degree. The company has five core technicians: Rao Zugang, Wang Rixin, Wang Min’an, ye Minqiang and Xiang Jianhui. Rao Zugang is a director and chief engineer of the company. He has a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree and is a senior engineer; Wang Rixin is the founder of core microelectronics. He studied in the professional certificate class of power semiconductor College of Shenyang University of technology. Wang Min’an, ye Minqiang and Xiang Jianhui have bachelor’s degree, college degree and college degree respectively.
Among the five core technicians, only Rao Zugang and Wang Min’an have obtained bachelor’s degree. Although Rao Zugang obtained a master’s degree in electronic and communication engineering from Peking University, the prospectus did not mention whether he obtained a master’s degree. Considering that among the 793 registered employees of core microelectronics, Rao Zugang should only have a master’s degree and no master’s degree.
In addition, there are 88 core Microelectronics R & D personnel, but the company has only 16 undergraduate employees. In other words, most R & D personnel have bachelor degree or below.
Among peer listed companies, Hangzhou Lion Electronics Co.Ltd(605358) disclosed the academic qualifications of its R & D personnel in the 2021 annual report. The company has 423 R & D personnel, including 7 doctoral students, 77 master’s students, 218 undergraduate students, 118 junior colleges, 3 senior high schools and below. Therefore, Hangzhou Lion Electronics Co.Ltd(605358) R & D personnel with bachelor degree or above accounted for 70.39%.
In addition, core microelectronics said that the company has established a market-oriented R & D system. The R & D process mainly includes the stages of project initiation, design and development, sample trial production, small batch verification and mass production transformation. Each stage is led by the R & D department, with the deep participation of multiple departments such as marketing department, material manufacturing department, chip manufacturing department, packaging manufacturing department and procurement department.
That is, each stage of the company’s R & D process is led by the R & D department. Interestingly, Wang Xingjuan, Vice Minister of core Microelectronics R & D department, has only a junior high school degree. He has successively served as director of Huangshan electrical diffusion workshop, deputy director of technology center and chairman of the board of supervisors, the predecessor of core microelectronics. Since August 2020, Wang Xingjuan has served as chairman of the board of supervisors and vice minister of R & D Department of core microelectronics.
Core microelectronics is an IDM company, which has layout in design, manufacturing and packaging. Jin Wenfang, the Minister of the first packaging department, also has a junior high school degree. Jin Wenfang has successively served as the leader of Huangshan electric appliance welding group, the Minister of packaging and manufacturing department I and the employee supervisor. He has served as the supervisor of microelectronics manufacturing department since August 2020.
R & D personnel pay relatively low
In recent years, the shortage of talents in the chip industry has intensified, and major companies have “robbed” people with high salaries. In the middle of 2021, an insider told the reporter of the daily economic news that his younger brother received an annual salary of 400000 yuan from a chip design company in Shanghai.
According to the electronic information displayed by the chip talent training institution, the salary of a simulated layout design engineer recruited by an Xi’an company is 20000 yuan / month ~ 35000 yuan / month, with a salary of 15; The salary of IC digital back-end engineer recruited by a Guangzhou company is 18000 yuan / month ~ 35000 yuan / month, with 13 salary; The salary of chip verification engineer recruited by a company in Nanjing is 18000 yuan / month ~ 30000 yuan / month.
The average monthly salary of core Microelectronics R & D personnel is only over 10000 yuan. The company’s R & D expenses from January to September 2021 totaled 168927 million yuan, of which the employee salary was 8.1053 million yuan. According to this calculation, the per capita monthly salary of 88 R & D personnel is 10200 yuan. Compared with the salary provided by the above companies, the salary of core microelectronics employees is relatively low.
Compared with peer listed companies, the salary of core microelectronics is also relatively low Hangzhou Lion Electronics Co.Ltd(605358) 2021 annual report shows that the employee compensation in the company’s R & D expenses is 823004 million yuan, and there are 423 R & D personnel. According to this calculation, the average monthly salary of Hangzhou Lion Electronics Co.Ltd(605358) R & D personnel is 16200 yuan.
Jiangsu Jiejie Microelectronics Co.Ltd(300623) 2020 annual report shows that in the annual R & D expenses, the employee salary is 372939 million yuan, and there are 208 R & D personnel, that is, the average monthly salary is 14900 yuan.
However, the average salary of R & D personnel in some listed companies is significantly lower than that of core microelectronics Yangzhou Yangjie Electronic Technology Co.Ltd(300373) 2020 R & D expenses include 49.827 million yuan of employee salary and 676 R & D personnel, i.e. an average monthly salary of 6100 yuan.
In fact, the number of patents and R & D personnel of core microelectronics are significantly lower than those of comparable companies. As of December 30, 2021, the number of Jiangsu Jiejie Microelectronics Co.Ltd(300623) , Yangzhou Yangjie Electronic Technology Co.Ltd(300373) , Jilin Sino-Microelectronics Co.Ltd(600360) , Hangzhou Lion Electronics Co.Ltd(605358) patents is 99, 285, 74 and 62 respectively, and the number of core microelectronics is only 20. In terms of R & D personnel, the above comparable peers are 208, 676, 616 and 273 respectively, and the number of core microelectronics is only 88.
gross profit of many products is lower than that of peers
From the prospectus, China’s comparable companies generally have higher revenue and net profit than core microelectronics, but it is relatively rare to adopt IDM mode of operation. From January to September 2021, Jiangsu Jiejie Microelectronics Co.Ltd(300623) , Yangzhou Yangjie Electronic Technology Co.Ltd(300373) , Jilin Sino-Microelectronics Co.Ltd(600360) , Hangzhou Lion Electronics Co.Ltd(605358) revenue was 1.346 billion yuan, 3.241 billion yuan, 1.6 billion yuan and 1.753 billion yuan respectively, with net profits of 388 million yuan, 607 million yuan, 62 million yuan and 418 million yuan respectively.
From January to September 2021, the revenue of core microelectronics was 275 million yuan and the net profit was 79 million yuan.
In addition, although core microelectronics has layout in epitaxial wafer, thyristor, MOSFET, diode and other industries, the gross profit margin of many products is lower than that of comparable peers.
In terms of epitaxial wafer, core microelectronics is mainly compared with Hangzhou Lion Electronics Co.Ltd(605358) . From January to September 2021, the gross profit margin of epitaxial wafer was 25.08%, while that of Hangzhou Lion Electronics Co.Ltd(605358) 2018 and 2019 was 51.86% and 49.95% respectively, and that of semiconductor silicon wafer was 40.66% in 2020.
As for the main product thyristor, core microelectronics is mainly compared with Jiangsu Jiejie Microelectronics Co.Ltd(300623) technology. In 2020, the gross profit margins of Jiangsu Jiejie Microelectronics Co.Ltd(300623) thyristor devices and thyristor chips were 56.12% and 71.84% respectively, and the gross profit margins of core microelectronics were 46.30% and 62.98% respectively, both lower than Jiangsu Jiejie Microelectronics Co.Ltd(300623) .
In terms of MOSFET, core microelectronics is mainly compared with Jiangsu Jiejie Microelectronics Co.Ltd(300623) , Hangzhou Lion Electronics Co.Ltd(605358) . In 2020, Jiangsu Jiejie Microelectronics Co.Ltd(300623) mosfet devices and chips will have gross margins of 19.05% and 9.71% respectively, while core Microelectronics will have gross margins of – 11.04% and – 15.74% respectively. It is worth mentioning that the gross profit margin of MOSFET chips in Hangzhou Lion Electronics Co.Ltd(605358) 2018 and 2019 is lower than that of core microelectronics.
In addition, benefiting from factors such as downstream prosperity and capacity improvement, the gross profit margin of MOSFET of core microelectronics increased significantly from January to September 2021, with MOSFET chips reaching 40.16% and MOSFET devices reaching 1.20%.
It should be noted that according to Founder Securities Co.Ltd(601901) data, the current market is mainly occupied by 12 inch silicon wafers and 8-inch silicon wafers. According to semi statistics, 12 inch silicon wafers accounted for 67.2% of all semiconductor silicon wafers shipped in 2019. According to IC insights, the proportion of 12 inch silicon wafer production capacity is expected to increase to 71.2% in 2021.
According to the National Silicon Industry Group Co.Ltd(688126) prospectus, China’s 12 inch chip manufacturing capacity will continue to increase, while the 8-inch and 6-inch chip manufacturing capacity will continue to decline. Core microelectronics has two chip manufacturing lines, 4 inches and 5 inches respectively. It can be seen that there is a gap between the chip and the mainstream chip market.
