Starchip Technology Forecasts 2026 H1 Net Profit Up 583%-650%, Robot Chip Shipments Top 10 Million

Starchip Technology was founded in late 2017, formerly the security chip team of MStar Semiconductor. MStar Semiconductor was gradually acquired by MediaTek starting in 2012, with integration completed by early 2019. Starchip's leader Lin Yongyu served as general manager of MStar Shenzhen for 15 years from 2003, and concurrently served as COO of MStar Semiconductor from 2015. According to Frost & Sullivan, in 2024 Starchip Technology was the world's largest visual AI SoC supplier with a 26.7% shipment share, including a 41.2% share in the security field, the highest globally. As of the end of 2025, the company's cumulative shipments of chips with AI computing power exceeded 550 million units.

During the inquiry in August 2022, Starchip Technology's core technologies corresponded to 51 granted patents, of which 24 were inherited from the MediaTek group, accounting for 47.06%. At the time of its listing in March 2024, it had 203 granted patents and 223 pending applications. MediaTek remains the largest shareholder with a 28.74% stake, and the company has no controlling shareholder. Around 2020, due to sanctions that led to the contraction of the largest player in the industry, Starchip Technology seized the opportunity to promote a 'strategic transformation' from a visual SoC supplier to an edge-side large-computing integrated solution provider, expanding its customer base from security companies to robot manufacturers, automakers, and eyewear manufacturers.

On July 18, 2026, Starchip Technology released a performance forecast: net profit attributable to shareholders for the first half of 2026 was RMB 820 million to RMB 900 million, a year-on-year increase of 583% to 650%. For the full year 2025, net profit attributable to shareholders was RMB 308 million; in the second quarter of 2025, net profit attributable to shareholders was RMB 69 million, down 12.62% year-on-year. In 2023, net profit attributable to shareholders was RMB 205 million, down more than 60% year-on-year. At the end of October 2025, Starchip Technology acquired a 53.3087% stake in Furui Kun Microelectronics, which was consolidated into its financial statements starting in November. Furui Kun primarily produces Bluetooth chips, with revenue of approximately RMB 58.75 million in the first half of 2025, and has a performance commitment that cumulative net profit from 2026 to 2028 will not be less than RMB 100 million.

For the full year 2025, Starchip Technology's gross margin was 34.16%, and for the first quarter of 2026, the gross margin was 46.05%. Revenue for the first half of 2026 was RMB 2.62 billion to RMB 2.72 billion, up 87% to 94% year-on-year. The first-quarter report showed that shipments across all product lines maintained stable growth year-on-year. By product, in 2025, robot chip shipments exceeded 10 million units, smart IoT entire line shipments exceeded 41 million units, automotive shipments exceeded 13 million units, and security shipments exceeded 120 million units. According to Frost & Sullivan data, based on shipments in the first half of 2025, Starchip Technology's robot vision chips ranked second globally with a 23.0% share.

Starchip Technology's products are categorized by computing power: 1 to 2 TOPS chips for cameras and small home robots; the 8 TOPS flagship SSR670 for edge hosts that can run large models locally; the 32 TOPS SAC8905, which has been nominated by overseas automakers and is scheduled for mass production in 2027; and higher computing power plans reaching 128 TOPS. The automotive LiDAR main chip SS901 was released at the end of 2025, with small-scale mass production in vehicles in the second quarter of 2026. The first generation of AI glasses chips has been mass-produced, and the second generation is planned to tape out in 2026. The acquisition of Furui Kun supplements wireless connectivity capabilities. The top five customers accounted for 88.16% of Starchip Technology's revenue. At the end of the first quarter of 2026, inventory increased by 30% compared to the beginning of the year.

On the shareholder front, in February 2026, Starchip Technology completed a share buyback, repurchasing 1.7448 million shares at a cost of RMB 119 million, with a buy price range of RMB 63.78 to RMB 72. On July 3, 2026, its market capitalization was RMB 23.878 billion, rising to RMB 44.976 billion by July 20. In May 2025, two old shareholders each holding more than 5% of the shares transferred part of their stakes. In September 2025, the company submitted a listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. According to public data, approximately 234 million shares will be unlocked at the end of March 2027.