Foreign suppliers dominate chip market

However, China still seems weak in terms of semiconductor production. There are no billionaires who made their money in the sector in China.

PwC's report said China's semiconductor use continued to outpace its semiconductor production, with the gap standing at $101.6 billion in 2012.

Among the top 30 suppliers of semiconductors to China, the list does not contain a single Chinese company. Almost all the leading players are influential multinational corporations, including Intel Corp, Qualcomm Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.

"Semiconductor manufacturing is an extremely complex process. Although China is growing a bigger footprint in that field, the country is still in its infancy in the industry. It takes time for Chinese semiconductor companies to catch up and establish themselves," he said.

In the foreseeable future, multinational corporations will be the principal suppliers of semiconductors to the Chinese semiconductor consumption, Chitkara estimated.

Gao Jianbin, PwC China's technology leader, said China has continually strengthened its integrated circuit design capabilities since 2000. "We anticipate key Chinese players, supported by ambitious government incentive plans and venture capital investment, to emerge to capitalize on the untapped market potential," Gao wrote in the report.

China's share of worldwide electronic equipment production increased by 2 percentage points to 34.2 percent in 2012 and is expected to increase to more than 40 percent by 2017.

There are clear signals that China's semiconductor production will take off, Chitkara continued. During the period between 2010 and 2012, there were 73 semiconductor initial public offerings in the world, with two in every three being Chinese. "That's very impressive data and it is a clear indicator of the future of the semiconductor industry in China," he said.

Semiconductor consumption in China grew in the last 10 years at a compound annual growth rate of 23 percent, while the world's average was 7 percent during the same period.