Chips&Media Posts Broad Third-Quarter Growth Driven by Licensing Revenue

What happened

Semiconductor IP company Chips&Media disclosed its third-quarter 2026 results on Oct. 27, reporting consolidated revenue of 7.162 billion won, up 8.2% year on year, and operating profit of 1.657 billion won, up 8.7% year on year. Growth was driven by IP licensing revenue: third-quarter licensing revenue rose 33% year on year to 4.431 billion won. The company secured its first licensing contract related to a domestic on-device AI semiconductor project, won a new automotive project from a major South Korean fabless chipmaker, signed new licensing agreements with Chinese customers for AI SoCs and humanoid robots, and signed a new mobile licensing agreement with existing customer Google. Royalty revenue, however, fell 26.5% year on year to 2.165 billion won; per the source, the decline reflected reduced chip production by customers amid memory supply shortages and rising prices. The company expects royalty revenue to return to growth in 2027, with domestic fabless AI SoC customers scheduled to begin mass production of chips for robots, home appliances and IoT devices. Service revenue increased 66.8% to 565 million won, and the company swung to a net loss of 605 million won, which the source attributes to foreign exchange losses and valuation losses on financial assets. Chips&Media also said it plans to strengthen its position in the mobility market, expand into edge AI fields including robotics and drones, address demand for next-generation video codec standards APV and AV2, commercialize AI ISPs and further enhance its NPU IP.

Impact and signal

Affected components and suppliers

Source and time

Source: The Elec · 10/27/2026 · View original source