Despite these issues some of the Bitcoin miners in China have increased their market share while others are giving a tough fight to retain their share.
Bitmain has been maintaining its status as one of the top crypto mining hardware manufacturer for the past three years.
However, customers of mining hardware may be slowly moving towards Shenzhen-based MicroBT.
Last year, the mining firm sold roughly 600,000 units of its WhatsMiner M20. On average, the mining capacity of each unit is roughly 60 terahashes per second, as per MicroBT sales head Vincent Zhang.
MicroBT’s hardware contributed to roughly 50% of increase in computing power last year, thereby indirectly aiding the Bitcoin rally. This translates to about 30% of total Bitcoin mining power across the globe.
Bitmain has experienced setbacks in 2019. The company fired its co-founder and chief shareholder Micree Ketuan Zhan in October 2019, while deciding to trim employee count by 50%. MicroBT’s WhatsMiner M20 hardware is turning out to be a formidable challenger to Bitmain’s AntMiner S17.
Nevertheless, Bitmain continues to maintain 65% of the market at the end of December, according to an assessment made by the digital asset management company Coinshares.
Meanwhile, both enterprises are building more robust technology to compete this year. Bitmain’s AntMiner S19 is seen as a strong contender to MicroBT’s WhatsMiner M30. MicroBT was able to outsmart Bitmain in manufacturing and delivery in 2019, and postponements created by the coronavirus outbreak may severely impact either of the companies in the months ahead.