TCL Technology, a leading Chinese display and white goods maker, has disbanded its semiconductor unit amid a less-than-rosy global chip market and investment environment.

Mooresilicon, which had offices in Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou and a headcount of more than 100, announced its dissolution on Nov. 21, with its website no longer accessible. Huizhou-based TCL has not yet commented.

All employees were offered compensation based on N+1 (N representing the working year of an employee). For instance, an employee who has worked in the company for two years can receive three months’ salary in one lump sum. 

Founded in 2021 as display panel producers faced a global chip shortage, Mooresilicon had a registered capital of CNY180 million (USD25.2 million).

The meeting to wind up the venture was hurriedly convened, at which its progress and difficulties were touched upon but no specific reason was offered for its demise, a former employee said.

“There was speculation internally that TCL's senior executives had lost patience at the failure to mass-produce its liquid crystal display driver chips for a long time,” the person said. “It was also said that the wireless product division’s wi-fi project had not yet been implemented.”

Fundraising was the problem Mooresilicon faced, according to a source familiar with the company. This year has been a challenging one for capital, and investors are not optimistic about the chip-design sector, the person added, noting that the market jumps on the bandwagon but does not focus on the corresponding value, resulting in slower progress. 

Since the start of the year, demand for consumer electronics has weakened and investors have become more cautious about investing in chips, a source at a Chinese chip designer said. 

The recovery in the consumer electronics market has been slow and display driver integrated circuits are under pressure from inventory digestion and price cuts, noted Chen Hui, general manager at research firm AVC Revo.

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