Online article of listed companies in China.
Company Overview
Changchun Changguangchen Microelectronics Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Changguangchen Core or the Company") is mainly engaged in the research and development, design, testing and sales of high-performance CMOS image sensors, as well as related tasks. Since its establishment, the company has adhered to the development concept of "focusing on image technology, insisting on scientific and technological innovation, and achieving extraordinary vision with cores", adhered to the development principle of independent research and development and independent innovation, and continuously broken through the technical difficulties in the key fields of high-performance CMOS image sensors. Ten core technologies with independent intellectual property rights, such as back-illuminated image sensor technology and three-dimensional imaging image sensor technology, have formed a solid technical barrier in pixel design, circuit design, and process development of high-performance CMOS image sensors.
The company attaches great importance to the synergy and independent construction of the industrial chain, and actively promotes the development of the upstream and downstream industries of high-performance CMOS image sensors. On the one hand, the company has maintained long-term and stable cooperative relations with upstream manufacturers such as wafer foundry and chip packaging, and has strategically laid out a number of upstream enterprises in the industrial chain such as Changguang Yuanchen, Changguang Zhengyuan, Jigao Electronics, and Changguang Qichen.
On the other hand, the company has accumulated a number of high-quality customers, including customers D, Teledyne, Vieworks, Adimec and other well-known overseas manufacturers, Hikrobot, Huarui Technology, Xintu Optoelectronics, Echo Optoelectronics and other leading domestic manufacturers, as well as Changchun Institute of Optics and Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Technology and Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an Institute of Optics and Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other scientific research institutes.
Industry outlook
In recent years, the global image sensor market has maintained a growth trend, among which CMOS image sensors occupy an increasingly important position in the global image sensor market due to their excellent technical performance. According to Yole statistics, in 2021, the global CMOS image sensor market share accounted for 979%, and the global CMOS image sensor market share is expected to rise to 99 by 20271%。
At this stage, there is still a large gap between the scale of upstream and downstream enterprises in China's machine vision industry chain and foreign-funded enterprises, and most of the key basic core devices represented by CMOS image sensors come from leading foreign manufacturers, so they have been facing the "stuck neck" problem such as chain security, which has always been the pain point of the machine vision industry chain. In the future, with the continuous improvement of the scale and technical level of domestic CMOS image sensor enterprises, the domestic substitution of CMOS image sensors will become the general trend.
Industry policy
CMOS image sensor industry belongs to the integrated circuit industry, which is the key basic core device in high-tech fields such as machine vision, scientific instruments and professional imaging, and can also be used in consumer electronics, security monitoring, automotive electronics, intelligent transportation and other fields. In order to encourage the development of the industry and standardize the order of the industry, since 2020, China has successively issued a series of plans and policies related to the integrated circuit industry and the CMOS image sensor industry.
Industry competition
According to Yole statistics, the global CMOS image sensor market has been dominated by four manufacturers in recent years, including Sony, Samsung, Omnivision, and STMicroelectronics, which together accounted for more than 80% of the global CMOS image sensor market share in 2021, showing an overall oligopoly trend. There are obvious differences in the requirements of different application fields for CMOS image sensors, and the high-tech fields such as machine vision, scientific instruments and professional imaging where Changguangchen core is located, the CMOS image sensor industry has a high entry threshold.
Core competitiveness
Focus on technology research and development and innovation, and master a number of core technologies
Since its establishment, the company has always paid attention to technology R&D and innovation, adhered to the development principle of independent R&D and independent innovation, and continuously broke through the technical difficulties in the key fields of high-performance CMOS image sensors. After years of independent R&D and industrialization accumulation, the company has formed a series of core technologies with completely independent intellectual property rights in pixel design, circuit design, process development, etc., including global shutter pixels, high dynamic range pixels, high sensitivity pixels, 3D imaging image sensors, high dynamic range readout circuits, low-noise circuits, high-performance ADC circuits, high-speed readout circuits, TDI image sensors and other technologies. The company has effectively transformed the above core technologies and applied them to related products, effectively improving product performance and having strong market competitiveness.
The company protects the core technology by applying for patents and other forms. As of December 31, 2022, the company and its holding subsidiaries had a total of 29 authorized patents at home and abroad, including 27 invention patents and 2 utility model patents.
Build an international R&D system to attract high-quality talents
The company always pays attention to the introduction and training of outstanding talents, and regards talents as the foundation of enterprise development. The company has established a sound talent compensation system and talent management mechanism, and introduced and cultivated a group of high-quality and professional talents with excellent technology and rich experience. As of December 31, 2022, the company has a total of 311 employees, including 19 with doctoral degrees, 127 with master's degrees, and 133 with bachelor's degrees, accounting for 89 with bachelor's degree or above71%;The company has a total of 156 R&D personnel, accounting for 5016%。
In addition to the R&D centers in Changchun, Hangzhou and Dalian, the company set up subsidiaries in Tokyo, Japan in 2016 and Antwerp, Belgium in 2018, expanding the R&D team by recruiting local professionals, and working closely with the domestic R&D team to gradually build an international R&D organization system, laying a solid foundation for the company's technology and product R&D. The company pays attention to the incentive of outstanding talents, and through the implementation of equity incentives, employee stock ownership plans and option incentive plans with a wide range of employees, the personal interests of employees are deeply bound to the long-term interests of the company, which improves the sense of identity of employees to the company and enhances the stability of the team.
We have been deeply involved in the industry for many years and have built a strong customer resource system
The company is located in high-tech fields such as machine vision, scientific instruments and professional imaging, which have high requirements for the performance, reliability, and sustainable supply capacity of CMOS image sensors, with high entry thresholds and long verification cycles.
The company has been deeply involved in the CMOS image sensor industry for many years, and has accumulated a large number of high-quality customers thanks to excellent product performance and perfect product layout, covering domestic and foreign machine vision, scientific instruments and equipment, system integration manufacturers and scientific research institutes, and has built its own strong customer resource system. In the R&D process, the company closely tracks the latest market trends and customer needs, excavates customer pain points in an all-round way, collects customer product demand information in a timely manner, and ensures that the technology and product R&D direction are highly consistent with customer needs. In the testing process, the company strictly controls the quality of CMOS image sensor products through its self-built wafer testing and chip testing platform and system, and provides high-performance CMOS image sensors for downstream customers through high-quality professional capabilities, fast response speed and comprehensive after-sales service, which has been widely praised by customers.
Promote the independent construction and integration of the industrial chain, and highlight the synergistic advantages
The company attaches great importance to the independent construction and integration of the industrial chain. On the one hand, the company has independently built a test platform and system for wafer testing, chip all-photoelectric verification, reliability verification, and chip final testing, covering advanced auxiliary test equipment such as system-on-chip test classifier, wafer probe station, high and low temperature test chamber, etc., to achieve a sound and stable test environment, which can meet the company's R&D and testing needs for CMOS image sensors.
In addition, the company has independently developed a platform-based chip and wafer data analysis system, which realizes fully automated chip and wafer inspection and data analysis through a multi-threaded test and analysis program architecture, which greatly improves the detection efficiency and reduces the dependence on wafer testing and chip testing service providers. The company also lays out the chip packaging business through its subsidiary Changguang Round Core, which is expected to effectively supplement the packaging capacity in the next 2-3 years.
On the other hand, through daily business dealings, the company has established good and stable cooperative relations with upstream manufacturers such as wafer foundry, chip packaging, ceramic tube shell, glass cover, etc. In addition, the company has also taken the initiative to lay out, in the fields of wafer foundry, chip packaging, packaging materials, etc., and has invested in a number of upstream enterprises in the industrial chain such as Changguang Yuanchen, Changguang Zhengyuan, Jigao Electronics, and Changguang Qichen. In the future, with the gradual release of technology research and development and production capacity of related companies, the synergistic advantages of the company's industrial chain will become more prominent.