The latest phase of CanSemi Technology Inc’s project in Guangzhou Development District was launched on Jan 22, 2026. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Guangzhou CanSemi Technology Inc, a major chipmaker in Guangdong province, is actively expanding its silicon photonic chip production lines to meet the rapid digital economic growth demand in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
Fueled by the explosive growth of artificial intelligence and the digital economy, massive data computing and storage needs have set extremely high requirements for data transmission speed and energy consumption, said Wu Hao, assistant president of CanSemi Technology.
To tap the growing demand, CanSemi Technology is actively expanding production capacity for silicon photonics chips, Wu said.
The company will also continue to upgrade its existing products to achieve digital transformation and develop advanced mixed-signal chip manufacturing capabilities, and will build a specialized production line centered on optical chips and optoelectronic integration to meet the strong demand for mixed-signal, optoelectronic and storage-computing integrated chips in the GBA, he added.
“For such a large country and an industry of such enormous scale, we need both our advanced digital chips and advanced analog chips,” Wu added.
In addition to advancing its process nodes, the company is developing a diverse range of process platforms to meet the growing demands of various application scenarios, said Zeng Hui, director of the company’s R&D center.
“For instance, the BCD (Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS) platform we have developed is mainly used in power management applications,” Zeng said. “New energy vehicles impose stringent requirements on battery management and our BCD platform is well positioned to meet such market demand.”
CanSemi Technology is the largest manufacturer of mass-produced 12-inch silicon photonic chips in the Chinese mainland.
The Phase IV project — bringing with it a construction investment of more than 25.2 billion yuan ($3.7 billion) — includes a 12-inch analog-mixed signal specialty process production line with a monthly capacity of 40,000 wafers. Construction of the Phase IV project began in January.
These capabilities are aimed at meeting the growing demand for specialty processes driven by cutting-edge fields such as AI, edge AI, industrial electronics and automotive electronics.
Upon completion by the end of 2029, the total monthly capacity of the company will reach 120,000 wafers, making CanSemi Technology the largest 12-inch wafer manufacturer in South China.
As of the end of last year, CanSemi Technology boasted a monthly production capacity of more than 60,000 12-inch wafers. The company has now obtained a total of 712 authorized patents, including overseas patents, among which 343 are invention patents.
To date, its cumulative shipment of 12-inch wafers has exceeded 1.8 million pieces, playing a role in promoting the digital economic construction of the GBA.
As of the end of April, data indicate that CanSemi Technology is the only company capable of large-scale mass production of 12-inch silicon photonic wafers on the Chinese mainland.
Tanks to chinadaily.com.cn
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