“Our industry is entering a period of adjustment,” said Wu Ping, chairman of Spreadtrum. He added that his company, one of China's top three chip design houses, was ready to be part of beginning consolidation. “Acquiring others is one option for us, being acquired by others is also an option,” he told the FT in an interview.

The remarks come as growth in China's fabless sector, the part of the semiconductor industry that designs chips but outsources their manufacturing to other companies that operate fabrication plants, or fabs, has slowed down sharply and struggled to produce individual players capable of capturing a sustained leadership position.

Chipnuts, a company co-founded by Taiwanese returnees from the US that designs mobile chips, has sold part of its business to Aptina, an affiliate of US chipmaker Micron.