Do Chinese-made chips have any recycling value?

Yes. As domestic substitution accelerates, the installed base of Chinese-made chips is growing rapidly. Chips from Huawei HiSilicon, YMTC, GigaDevice and other Chinese brands are in strong demand in the second-hand and repair markets, and their recycling value has been rising year over year.

How does recycling of Chinese-made chips differ from imported chips?

Chinese-made chips generally carry lower per-unit recycling prices than imported equivalents, but supply is growing fast and in volume. Some Chinese MCUs — notably GD32, which is compatible with the STM32 ecosystem — enjoy strong second-hand demand, with residual values approaching those of imported parts.

China's Chip Substitution Wave Creates New Recycling Opportunities: Huawei HiSilicon, SMIC, YMTC Product Lines

Substitution Accelerates — and the Recycling Landscape Shifts

Driven by both the US-China technology contest and supply-chain security concerns, China's chip substitution has shifted into high gear. Product lines from Huawei HiSilicon, SMIC, YMTC, CXMT and GigaDevice are expanding rapidly, and the installed base of Chinese-made chips is growing at more than 30% per year. For the chip recycling industry, this is an entirely new growth market.

The Three Main Categories in Chinese Chip Recycling

Category	Representative Vendors / Products	Recycling Characteristics
Memory chips	YMTC Xtacking NAND; CXMT DDR4/LPDDR4	Capacity ramping fast; teardown supply growing visibly
MCU	GigaDevice GD32; HDSC HC32; CMSC CMS32	STM32-ecosystem compatible; strong second-hand demand
Logic / SoC	Huawei HiSilicon (Kirin / Ascend / Kunpeng); UNISOC	High scarcity; clear premiums on specific models

Residual Value Analysis of Chinese-Made Chips

YMTC NAND dies: Teardown NAND pulled from Zhitai SSDs recycles at roughly 60%-70% of the price of same-capacity Samsung parts — and the gap is narrowing as quality reputation builds.
GD32 MCU series: Thanks to pin compatibility with STM32, used GD32F103/F407 parts reach 70%-85% of the price of the corresponding STM32 — the highest residual value among Chinese MCUs.
Huawei HiSilicon chips: Sanctions have cut off new supply, making existing stock increasingly scarce. Recycling prices of certain HiSilicon chips for security and telecom applications have actually risen rather than fallen.
CXMT DDR4: Die quality is stable; recycling prices run about 65%-75% of Samsung equivalents.

New Recycling Opportunities Created by Substitution

Shifting supply structure: Chinese chips are taking a growing share of new electronics; over the next 3-5 years, the proportion of Chinese chips inside retired devices will rise sharply.
Rigid repair demand: Repairing Chinese-made equipment requires Chinese-made replacement chips — and teardown parts are a key source.
Remanufacturing for export: Chinese chips offer strong price/performance, creating remanufacturing-export demand in emerging markets such as Southeast Asia and Africa.
Precious-metal recovery: Chinese chips contain gold, silver and palladium just like imported ones — end-of-life material recovery value stays stable.

Advice for Recyclers

Build Chinese-chip identification capability: Learn the marking, packaging and date-code conventions of Chinese chips to avoid misjudgment and undervaluation.
Track substitution policy: Chips in policy-driven verticals (Xinchuang domestic IT, automotive) show the fastest installed-base growth.
Invest in testing and grading early: Establishing quality-test standards for Chinese chips now means capturing the market first.

ChipReclaim has built a dedicated testing and recycling system for Chinese-made chips, covering mainstream product lines from Huawei HiSilicon, YMTC, CXMT and GigaDevice — delivering fair, transparent recycling services for domestic semiconductors.