The revenue of Brite Semiconductor dropped by nearly 60% in Q1, with the completion of front-end design for the 28nm process platform.

On the evening of April 27, Brite Semiconductor released its financial results for 2024 and Q1 2025.

In Q1 2025, Brite Semiconductor achieved operating revenue of 139 million yuan, down 59.23% YoY. Net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company was -25.81 million yuan, turning from a profit of 55.69 million yuan in the same period last year.

In 2024, Brite Semiconductor achieved operating revenue of 1.09 billion yuan, down 18.77% YoY. Net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company was -61.0472 million yuan, down 64.19% YoY. Net profit after deducting non-recurring gains and losses was -44.0461 million yuan, down 69.84% YoY.

Brite Semiconductor stated that the decline in performance was due to fluctuations in downstream customer demand, while the company's continuous increase in R&D investment collectively led to a YoY decline in profit levels.

According to the financial data, Brite Semiconductor's chip mass production business achieved revenue of 809 million yuan in 2024, down 14.54% YoY, with a gross profit margin of 23.27%, down 3.66 percentage points from the same period last year. The company's chip design business achieved revenue of 281 million yuan, down 28.89% YoY, with a gross profit margin of 30.80%, up 6.46 percentage points from the same period last year. The increase in the gross profit margin of the chip design business was attributed to the higher proportion of revenue from full-custom projects and the overall rise in gross profit margin.

By region, Brite Semiconductor's domestic sales achieved revenue of 863 million yuan in 2024, down 10.85% YoY, with a gross profit margin of 21.65%. Overseas sales achieved revenue of 226 million yuan, down 39.35% YoY, with a gross profit margin of 38.80%, up 3.32 percentage points from the same period last year. The decline in overseas sales revenue was higher than the overall growth rate, and the increase in gross profit margin was mainly due to the company's high project execution efficiency and better cost control in this market.

In 2024, Brite Semiconductor's R&D investment amounted to 128 million yuan, up 18.12% YoY, accounting for 11.73% of operating revenue, up 3.66 percentage points YoY. The increase in R&D expenses was mainly due to the company's continuous efforts to strengthen the construction of its R&D team to meet technological needs in different scenarios. The number of R&D personnel in 2024 increased from 110 at the end of the previous period to 155, with the proportion of total employees rising from 36.67% to 45.32%. The average salary increased from 581,400 yuan to 601,300 yuan, an increase of 3.43%.

The reporter from the STAR Market Daily noted that in 2024, Brite Semiconductor held a total of 98 invention patents and 26 utility model patents, with 32 new invention patents added. These patents mainly involve areas such as high-speed interface IP and high-performance analog IP.

The integrated circuit industry is currently in a stage of rapid development, with steady growth in the global market size but increasingly fierce competition. With the rise of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, SoC chip technology, advanced packaging technology, and the RISC-V architecture have become important directions for the industry's development. At the same time, the importance of localisation demand and technological self-reliance has become increasingly prominent, providing broad development opportunities for domestic enterprises.

As of December 31, 2024, Brite Semiconductor had a total of 807 million yuan in orders on hand (tax-inclusive, the same hereinafter), including 430 million yuan in orders on hand for chip design business and 378 million yuan in orders on hand for chip mass production business.

Brite Semiconductor has the capability to customise chips based on China's independent advanced processes and has achieved a self-developed layout of high-speed interface IP and high-performance analog IP in advanced processes. It is one of the few domestic enterprises with full-process design capabilities in advanced processes and successful chip customisation experience. In addition to advanced logic process design capabilities, the company also possesses advanced feature process design capabilities covering high-voltage processes, non-volatile memory processes, microelectronics, and optoelectronics integration processes, and has established a strategic partnership with Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) through in-depth collaboration.

In terms of edge AI platforms, Brite Semiconductor achieved the integration of AI ISP, big-little core CPUs, NOC buses, and high-speed Serdes interfaces based on the 28nm process in 2024. It has now completed the front-end design and entered the FPGA verification and digital simulation verification stages.

Regarding the raised capital investment projects, Brite Semiconductor's platform for customised solutions in network communication and computing chips has invested a cumulative 501 million yuan, completing 19.26% of the planned progress. The platform for customised chips in the industrial internet and smart cities has invested a cumulative 131 million yuan, completing 7.34% of the planned progress. The platform for high-performance analog IP construction has invested a cumulative 100 million yuan, completing 12.06% of the planned progress.