Hidden among the rugged Stonehenge of global IC design is a Taiwanese crab. You won’t see it at first glance, but you can’t live without it.
With a crab as its LOGO, Realtek is ranked the seventh largest IC design company in the world. It started with Ethernet chips and has gradually entered multiple fields such as WiFi, Bluetooth, audio, multimedia, AIoT, automotive, and robotics. Its annual shipments exceed 2.5 billion chips, and it has penetrated into billions of terminal devices, and has achieved leadership positions in multiple markets such as China Netcom and audio. Realtek's products are like the nervous system of the digital world, quietly connecting every pulse of human life.
The person in charge of this crab empire is also low-key and rarely stands in front of the spotlight. He is Qiu Shunjian, chairman of Realtek Semiconductor.
Qiu Shunjian, chairman of Realtek, which has a crab as its logo and ranks as the seventh largest IC design company in the world, is a low-key man and rarely stands in front of the spotlight. After graduating from the Institute of Electrical Engineering of National Taiwan University, he worked at United Microelectronics Corporation and joined Realtek in 1991 on the recommendation of his seniors. "Realtek's English name 'Realtek' emphasizes real kung fu; using crab as its trademark means that it is determined to conquer the world with real kung fu and become a leading manufacturer." Qiu Shunjian recalled that what attracted him most at the time was Realtek's pragmatic and R&D-focused corporate culture.
Although he was still young at the time, Qiu Shunjian was deeply trusted by the management team and formed a Netcom team with many seniors, step by step laying the foundation of Realtek's technology. In 1999, the 35-year-old Qiu Shunjian was promoted to general manager and took over as chairman in 2021, leading the company's revenue to soar to over NT$120 billion. He has played a leading role in many key products, the most representative of which is the world's first "three-in-one" single-chip high-speed Ethernet controller created by Realtek in 1997.
Realtek has integrated the physical layer (PHY) of the high-speed Ethernet network to the media controller (MAC) chip. These previously independent analog, digital, memory and other components have been integrated into a single chip for the first time. It has successfully overcome signal interference and power consumption problems. The high level of challenges shocked the industry. It not only broke the leading position of the international giant Intel, but also released the originally complex and expensive network chips to the general public market.
At that time, the Internet was growing rapidly. The innovative breakthrough of single chips not only led to a dramatic improvement in IC costs, but also accelerated the network chip to become a standard built-in computer, which greatly contributed to the popularization of the Internet. This battle set the tone for Realtek to dominate the world with high CP value, and it will continue to maintain its leading position in the world with a series of derivative products.
Market orientation and independent research and development break the curse of "a generation of boxing champions"
"To achieve absolute leadership, we set goals with a 'market driven' mentality, or even a mindset of replacing ourselves." Qiu Shunjian revealed that the specifications of many of Realtek's successful products, "Engineers screamed when they saw it, calling us crazy! But it is these impossible tasks that successfully stimulate huge potential."
Qiu Shunjian gave an example. When developing a new generation of ultra-high-speed (Gig-abit) Ethernet chips, there were originally more than 100 packaged pins. However, after calculating the cost structure, Qiu Shunjian asked the team to cut down to 48 pins. At that time, even the R&D director thought it was impossible. "I told the team that if we can't do it, we don't need to fight this battle. If someone else does it first, we will fall behind." Sure enough, less than a year after Realtek launched it, his opponent immediately followed up, confirming that his market vision was indeed accurate.
Stories like this are constantly happening at Realtek, and internal R&D meetings must include market assessment. Qiu Shunjian, who often delivers high-level battles to the team, laughed and said, "I am one of those crazy people!" But it is such rigorous challenges that drive Realtek to continue to innovate and make breakthroughs, winning first place in many fields. Qiu Shunjian bluntly said, "IC design is a very cruel jungle game. It is essentially a 'winner takes all' game. The first place is very good, the second place may make some money, and the third place may lose money."
In the eyes of the outside world, Realtek is a company that maximizes CP value. Its products are cheap and big. This comes not only from uncompromising goals but also from a high degree of technological independence. While other IC design companies choose to purchase off-the-shelf IP to quickly produce products, Realtek always insists on independent research and development. This allows Realtek to master the core of technology and find synergies among different products. It can make ICs smaller, faster, more power-saving, and lower-cost. It can also customize one-stop solutions based on customer pain points rather than a single chip.
Among Realtek's nearly 8,000 employees, up to 88% are R&D personnel, and 30% of its revenue is invested in R&D every year. In fact, Realtek has been targeting the fields of computers, consumer electronics and communications (Computer, Consumer, Communication; 3C) since its early days, using a wide coverage strategy to penetrate into everyone's smart digital life. So far, it has more than 2,000 product models, and this is also the key to Realtek's success in breaking through the curse of the "generation of boxing champions" in semiconductors.
Promote organizational reengineering and international talent search to successfully "transform into adults"
During Qiu Shunjian's 22 years as general manager, Realtek wrote an amazing growth trajectory, but it was not all smooth sailing. Realtek also faced the painful "turning into an adult" period. For example, although the broad coverage strategy may seem very far-sighted in the future, it is also prone to problems of product divergence and insufficient resources.
To this end, Qiu Shunjian decisively eliminated plans that were too divergent, and at the same time looked for synergies between 3C. Some start from the perspective of IP synergy, so that the same technology can be used in different products; some start from the perspective of customer synergy, establishing cross-business division international marketing units to connect customers with a single window, eliminating the trouble of multi-department communication.
Three years before Qiu Shunjian took over as general manager, Realtek's performance grew significantly, but behind the rapid development, it also exposed the problem of insufficient R&D management. Around 2003, when Realtek's revenue was about to jump from 10 billion yuan to 20 billion yuan, it began to stagnate.
"Realtek has always relied on hard work. Engineers are very good and never admit defeat. They always feel that they can do everything themselves." Qiu Shunjian pointed out the blind spot at the time. "But sometimes engineers' thinking is out of touch with the market. What the market strives for is to launch the right product at the right time. It does not matter how good you are. This cannot be achieved by relying solely on internal resources."
In order to strengthen R&D efficiency, Qiu Shunjian promoted organizational restructuring. Internally, the R&D team has been changed to central control so that everyone can get used to resource sharing; externally, it has actively introduced external resources and established overseas teams in Europe, the United States, China and other places, allowing Realtek's R&D resources to officially go global.
At first, Taiwanese managers were a little unaccustomed to cross-border development and resource utilization, and often believed that “things can’t be done without people around.” Therefore, Qiu Shunjian established a dedicated international talent search and investment team to directly connect outstanding international talents with the company's R&D teams. When everyone realizes the benefits of internal and external resource collaboration, the follow-up will roll out independently. In 2005, Realtek finally returned to double-digit growth again.
"Now, when you take apart a computer motherboard, you may find that there are often more than 10 Realtek chips around the CPU. This is the result of Realtek's 2 to 30 years of accumulation, and it also forms our competitive advantage!" Qiu Shunjian said proudly.
Establish a model of professional governance and transform into a king crab for 40 years
In 2021, former chairman Ye Nanhong handed the baton to Qiu Shunjian, setting a model for Taiwanese companies to shift from family governance to professional governance. Qiu Shunjian admitted that he was not expecting it. But he believes that this is natural within Realtek, because since the company was established by seven founders, a "partner" culture has been established, and professional talents have always been highly valued, thus achieving professional governance.
When Realtek was founded, it focused on the grand ambition of the 3C field and led the world's exciting digital life for 40 years. At this year's Computex, the layout of robots and smart cars revealed for the first time is Realtek's new blueprint for the next 40 years. Facing the 40th anniversary of Realtek's establishment, Qiu Shunjian's eyes sparkled, "I often encourage my colleagues: There is money all over the floor, it depends on whether you have the ability to pick it up."
This helmsman who has gone through multiple generations of technology changes will also lead 8,000 R&D elites with real skills, so that Realtek, who has transformed into a king crab, will continue to "walk sideways" domineeringly in the future AI era.
