[News] 8 Years, 300 Million Chips: How Indiemicro Becomes China’s Automotive Chip Powerhouse

With competition mounting for NVIDIA’s H20 in China, the U.S. chip giant is also seeing its automotive chips come under growing pressure from local rivals. This shift is reflected in SMIC’s performance—China’s top foundry now earns 10% of its revenue from automotive and industrial chips, up from less than 3% in 2020, according to Nikkei.

The report adds that at least 10 Chinese chipmakers—from Horizon Robotics and HiSilicon (Huawei) to Black Sesame Technologies and SemiDrive—are betting big on automotive chips. Among them, ijiwei spotlights Indiemicro, which has emerged as a leader in China’s automotive-grade analog-mixed signal chip sector since its 2017 founding.

Indiemicro’s Background

The report notes that when Indiemicro was founded, China’s NEV industry was just hitting its stride, with legacy players like BYD entering key electrification phases. At the time, ijiwei notes, the country’s automotive chip market relied heavily on foreign suppliers—led by TI, NXP, Infineon, ROHM, Elmos, Melexis, and Renesas—while domestic solutions had yet to break through.

According to Ijiwei, Indiemicro was among China’s first local chipmakers to enter the market. Backed from day one by veterans from Renesas, Atmel, and Huawei, the company is now seen as one of the few in China with fully developed capabilities in automotive-grade chip R&D, operations, and mass production, with its core team averaging two decades of industry experience, the report adds.

Strong Momentum on Automotive LED Driver ICs

Ijiwei suggests that Indiemicro’s first automotive-grade chip began mass production in 2019. By early June 2025, the company reportedly ships over 300 million automotive control chips for original equipment, serving more than 200 clients and covering nearly every major automaker worldwide.

According to ijiwei, Indiemicro has established its initial presence across three major product lines—automotive lighting, micro-motor control, and automotive sensing. Notably, driven by explosive growth in its automotive LED driver chip business, the company achieved profitability as early as 2022—a rare accomplishment for any chip startup, the report adds.

As highlighted by ijiwei, over the past three years, Indiemicro’s revenue has surged with a compound annual growth rate approaching 190%, demonstrating exceptional growth momentum.

Notably, as per the Security Daily, United Faith Auto-Engineering, which provides industrial automation equipment and production lines for the automotive industry, announced in May its plan to acquire Indiemicro through a combination of share issuance, convertible bonds, and cash payment, along with raising supporting funds in a related-party transaction.

If this deal is completed as planned, both parties will fully integrate their expertise, customers, and more—boosting synergy and strengthening their position in the automotive value chain, the report notes.

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(Photo credit: Indiemicro)