SHANGHAI: China's Xiaomi Corp has taken a stake of roughly 6per cent in compatriot chip designer VeriSilicon Holdings Co Ltd, as the smartphone maker revamps its years-long pursuit of success in semiconductors which it sees as central to driving innovation.
The firm is headquartered in Shanghai and has research and development centres at home and in the United States. It typically works as a contractor to other chip companies, helping them complete additional parts of semiconductor design.Xiaomi grew rapidly since releasing its first smartphone at the beginning of the decade, becoming the fourth-biggest seller worldwide in the first quarter of this year, showed latest data from researcher IDC. However, it has had less success in chips.
After that, there were no major chip announcements until April when an internal memo stated that Xiaomi would spin off part of its chip division into a subsidiary called Big Fish focused on making chips for internet-of-things devices.Xiaomi is not alone in its chip ambitions. Huawei's chip-making HiSilicon subsidiary makes Kirin processors for its own smartphones, which experts said are roughly competitive with top-of-the-line chips from U.S. leader Qualcomm Inc.