Chinese Chipmaker Unisoc Appoints New CEO Amid Parent's Debt Restructuring, Insider Says

Unisoc Shanghai Technology said it has appointed a new chief executive officer. A person close to the Chinese chipmaker told Yicai Global that this move may be related to the ongoing debt restructuring of its parent company.

Former CEO Steve Chu was replaced by Ren Qiwei as part of Unisoc’s parent Tsinghua Unigroup’s restructuring plan, Yicai Global learned from an insider.

Investors and creditors approved Unigroup’s bankruptcy restructuring scheme at the end of last year. On Feb. 11, Wu Shengwu was substituted with Zhao Weiguo as Unisoc's legal representative and chairman.

This is just a normal internal personnel change, as Unisoc’s production and operations remain normal, the Shanghai-based firm said late yesterday.

Ren, who has a doctoral degree in microelectronics, worked at Philips Semiconductor and Qimonda Technology Xi'an before joining Unigroup in 2015. There he served as senior manager at several Unigroup units.

Chu became Unisoc's CEO in 2018 after working for communication technology firms like Huawei Technologies, Hisilicon, and Datang Mobile.

Some insiders are worried about Chu's departure as it may cast uncertainty on Unisoc's future development. "Many members of Unisoc team worked for Hisilicon with Chu before and have followed him for years," the person said, predicting that the CEO replacement will have impacts on Unisoc.

Unisoc is a leading Chinese semiconductor designer. In last year’s fourth quarter, it seized an 11 percent share of the global smartphone application processor market, according to market research firm Counterpoint. In 2019, Unisoc’s market share was close to zero.