SkyeChip eyes next growth phase as homegrown IP starts to scale, Kenanga sees royalty potential
- ID
- 22132
- Status
- summarized
- Published
- 08 Sep 2026, 10:19 AM
- Fetched
- 08 Sep 2026, 11:38 AM
- Provider
- Digital News Asia
- Category
- malaysia-tech
- Original URL
- https://www.digitalnewsasia.com/business/skyechip-eyes-next-growth-phase-homegrown-ip-starts-scale-kenanga-sees-royalty-potential
- Source URL
- https://www.digitalnewsasia.com/rss.xml
Summary
- Score
- 5.5
- Created
- 08 Sep 2026, 11:38 AM
- Tags
- Audience
- saas_foundersdevelopersai_ml_learners
What happened
Malaysian IC design firm SkyeChip, operational since 2020, reported Q1 FY2027 revenue of US$12.25M with silicon IP contributing 52.9% and custom ASIC 46.9%, selling primarily into the US (54.6%) and China (42.1%). Kenanga analyst Tan Woon Pin sees product and royalty revenue as a 'natural extension' of its current NRE and licensing business but has not yet factored it into earnings forecasts due to timing uncertainty. The company employs 365 engineers out of 391 staff, has filed 113 patents (36 granted), and spent RM59.7M on R&D in FY2025—roughly half of revenue.
Why it matters
For Malaysian founders and builders, SkyeChip is a concrete test case of whether homegrown semiconductor IP can scale beyond NRE services into recurring royalty revenue—a business model shift that would signal maturity in Malaysia's chip design ecosystem. If SkyeChip succeeds, it validates the NSS push into indigenous IC design and could open supplier and partnership opportunities for local startups building adjacent tooling, testing, or integration services.
Discussion angle
Whether SkyeChip can transition from project-based NRE revenue to recurring IP royalties—and what that tells us about the viability of deep-tech IP businesses in Malaysia versus pure services or product companies.