GigaDevice
{{Infobox company
| name = GigaDevice Semiconductor (Beijing) Inc.
| logo =
| type = Public
| traded_as = {{SSE|603986}}
CSI A100
| founder =
| industry = Semiconductors
| revenue =
| num_employees =
| divisions =
| homepage = {{URL|gigadevice.com}}
| foundation = 2005
| location_city = Beijing,
China
| location_country =
| locations =
}}
GigaDevice Semiconductor ({{zh|s=兆易创新|p=zhàoyì chuāngxīn}}) is a Chinese NOR flash memory designer.{{Cite web|url=http://www.gigadevice.com/about/company-profile/|title=Company Profile|date=16 June 2017 }}{{cite web |last1=Yoshida |first1=Junko |title=China Fabless: Why is GigaDevice chasing the no-growth$3 billion NOR flash market? |url=https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1264568 |website=EETimes |accessdate=25 November 2019 |date=2012-09-19}} It also produces microcontrollers, some of them are based on the ARM architecture (GD32 series), and other on the RISC-V architecture (GD32V series).{{cite web |last1=Huang |first1=Illumi |title=GigaDevice Intros General-Purpose RISC-V MCUs |url=https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1335066 |website=EETimes |accessdate=25 November 2019|date=2019-08-26}}
History
GigaDevice Semiconductor was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Beijing, China. GD32 chips were introduced in 2015 and are compatible in pinout and periphery options to the STM32 line of microcontrollers.{{cite web |last1=Aufranc |first1=Jean-Luc |title=GigaDevice GD32 is a Faster, Software and Pin-to-pin STM32 Compatible Cortex M3 MCU |url=https://www.cnx-software.com/2015/12/21/gigadevice-gd32-is-a-faster-software-and-pin-to-pin-stm32-compatible-cortex-m3-mcu/ |website=CNX Software |accessdate=25 November 2019 |date=21 December 2015}}
The company participated as part of the Chinese buyer consortium Uphill Investment Co. that acquired Integrated Silicon Solution Inc., a semiconductor company that is among the major producers of NOR flash, in 2015 for US$731 million.{{cite web|title=ISSI Shareholders Approve Acquisition by Uphill Investment|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-29/issi-shareholders-approve-acquisition-by-uphill-investment|website=Bloomberg|date=June 30, 2015}} The buyer consortium beat out an offer by Cypress Semiconductor, a major competitor of GigaDevice in the NOR flash market.{{cite news|title=Technavio Announces Top Five Vendors in the Global NOR Flash Market from 2016 to 2020|url=http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160613005716/en/Technavio-Announces-Top-Vendors-Global-Flash-Market|website=BusinessWire|date=June 13, 2016}}
The buyer consortium of Uphill Investment Co. comprises eTown MemTek Ltd, Summitview Capital, Beijing Integrated Circuit Design and Test Fund, and Huaqing Jiye Investment Management Co., Ltd. GigaDevice along with Beijing ETOWN, an investment firm and economic development agency of the Beijing Municipal Government, were the equity holders of eTown MemTek Ltd.{{cite web|title=Schedule 14a|url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/854701/000119312515221513/d942022ddefa14a.htm|website=Securities and Exchange Commission}}
In August 2016, the company was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.{{Cite web |last=Flannery |first=Russell |title=Semiconductor Industry Produces China's Latest Tech Billionaire |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/russellflannery/2020/01/08/semiconductor-industry-produces-chinas-latest-tech-billionaire/ |access-date=2024-08-20 |website=Forbes |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2016-08-04 |title=GigaDevice Semiconductor sets IPO pricing for its Shanghai IPO |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUKL3N1AM1KR/ |access-date=2024-08-20 |website=reuters.com}}
In June 2023, GigaDevice signed the UN Global Compact.{{Cite web |title=GigaDevice Semiconductor Inc. |url=https://unglobalcompact.org/what-is-gc/participants/164524-GigaDevice-Semiconductor-Inc- |access-date=2024-08-20 |website=unglobalcompact.org}}
Products
=Microcontrollers=
The GD32 series of microcontrollers are based on the ARM Cortex-M3 core. It was introduced in 2013 and consists of six product lines: Basic, Mainstream, Value, Connectivity, Performance, and Extend. MCU frequency is in range 48-120 MHz.{{cite web |last1=Jin |first1=Eric |title=GD32 Series ARM® Cortex® -M3 MCU Introduction |url=https://archive.eettaiwan.com/www.eettaiwan.com/STATIC/PDF/201507/GigaDevice.pdf |website=eetaiwan.com |accessdate=25 November 2019 |date=July 2015 |archive-date=30 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220430145731/https://archive.eettaiwan.com/www.eettaiwan.com/STATIC/PDF/201507/GigaDevice.pdf |url-status=dead }} Some GD32 chips are pin-compatible with STM32 series of STMicroelectronics company.
The GD32V series was introduced in 2019 and replaces ARM Cortex cores with custom implementation of RISC-V MCU core named "Bumblebee Core" (designed by Nuclei System Technology[http://dl.sipeed.com/LONGAN/Nano/DOC/Bumblebee%20core%20intro_en.pdf Bumblebee Processor Core. Concise Data Sheet], Nuclei System Technology).{{cite web |title=GigaDevice Releasing RISC-V MCUs And Development Boards |url=https://hackaday.com/2019/08/27/gigadevice-releasing-risc-v-mcus-and-development-boards/ |website=Hackaday |accessdate=25 November 2019 |date=27 August 2019}}{{cite web |last1=Winning |first1=Ally |title=Open-source RISC-V MCU with Bumblebee core |url=https://www.eenewsembedded.com/news/open-source-risc-v-mcu-bumblebee-core |website=eeNews Embedded |date=2 September 2019}}