Lontium Semiconductor Corp is not a household name like Intel or Texas Instruments, but its plans to go public in mainland China could test new export controls that have put the fate of many US executives at Chinese chip firms in limbo, reports the South China Morning Post.
The company, founded in 2006 by former Intel engineer Chen Feng, has gained approval for an initial public offering on Shanghai Stock Exchange’s tech board, Star Market, according to its prospectus released on October 25.
As China has invested massive sums of money to support the development of its domestic semiconductor industry, local chip companies going public has become a regular occurrence. But Chen is a US citizen, which could make Lontium’s listing the first to test Washington’s new rules that “restrict the ability of US persons to support the development or production” of chips at Chinese semiconductor firms.