GigaDevice Semiconductor Inc. is a fabless semiconductor company that develops flash memory, microcontrollers (MCUs), sensor, analog products and solutions.[1][2] Its flash memory portfolio includes SPI NOR Flash, SPI NAND Flash, and Parallel NAND Flash[3]. Its microcontrollers are based on the ARM architecture (GD32 series), and RISC-V architecture (GD32V series).[4]
History
GigaDevice Semiconductor was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Beijing, China. In 2008, it launched China's first Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) NOR flash memory chip. And the expanding engineering team entered the Microcontroller Unit (MCU) market in 2013[5].
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.[6] The buyer consortium beat out an offer by Cypress Semiconductor, a major competitor of GigaDevice in the NOR flash market.[7]
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.[8]
In August 2016, the company was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.[9][10]
In June 2023, GigaDevice signed the UN Global Compact.[11]
In June 2025, GigaDevice established its global headquarters in Singapore.[12]
On 13 January 2026, GigaDevice held its secondary listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.[13]
Products
Microcontrollers
The GD32 series of microcontrollers are based on the ARM Cortex-M3 core. It was introduced in 2013 and has since expanded to include Cortex-M23, M4, M33, and M7 cores, with MCU frequencies ranging from 48 MHz up to 600 MHz.[14] The series currently consists of several categories including High-Performance, Mainstream, Entry-Level, Low-Power, Wireless, Automotive, and Specific MCUs.[15]
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[16]).[4][17][18]
References
- Junko Yoshida. China Fabless: Why is GigaDevice chasing the no-growth$3 billion NOR flash market? EETimes, 2012-09-19, retrieved 25 November 2019^
- Check out GigaDevice Semiconductor's stock price (3986-SZ) in real time CNBC, retrieved 2025-12-25^
- About-GigaDevice.com www.gigadevice.com, retrieved 2025-12-25^
- Illumi Huang. GigaDevice Intros General-Purpose RISC-V MCUs EETimes, 2019-08-26, retrieved 25 November 2019^
- GigaDevice, China’s Weapon in the Global NOR Flash Battle [1/2] EqualOcean, retrieved 2026-01-29^
- ISSI Shareholders Approve Acquisition by Uphill Investment Bloomberg, June 30, 2015^
- Technavio Announces Top Five Vendors in the Global NOR Flash Market from 2016 to 2020 BusinessWire, June 13, 2016^
- Schedule 14a Securities and Exchange Commission^
- Russell Flannery. Semiconductor Industry Produces China's Latest Tech Billionaire Forbes, retrieved 2024-08-20^
- GigaDevice Semiconductor sets IPO pricing for its Shanghai IPO reuters.com, 2016-08-04, retrieved 2024-08-20^
- GigaDevice Semiconductor Inc. unglobalcompact.org, retrieved 2024-08-20^
- Staff Reporter. GigaDevice opens headquarters in Singapore sbr.com.sg, 2025-06-04, retrieved 2026-01-29^
- Themis Qi. Chipmaker GigaDevice leaps 45% in Hong Kong debut amid China self-reliance push South China Morning Post, 2026-01-13, retrieved 2026-01-13^
- Eric Jin. GD32 Series ARM® Cortex® -M3 MCU Introduction eetaiwan.com, July 2015, retrieved 25 November 2019^
- Sheryl Miles. GigaDevice expands GD32 MCU portfolio with new series Electronic Specifier, 2025-11-05, retrieved 2026-02-09^
- [http://dl.sipeed.com/LONGAN/Nano/DOC/Bumblebee%20core%20intro_en.pdf Bumblebee Processor Core. Concise Data Sheet], Nuclei System Technology^
- GigaDevice Releasing RISC-V MCUs And Development Boards Hackaday, 27 August 2019, retrieved 25 November 2019^
- Ally Winning. Open-source RISC-V MCU with Bumblebee core eeNews Embedded, 2 September 2019^