China's Xiaomi Corp has taken a stake of roughly six percent 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.
In a filing to the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) published online on Thursday, VeriSilicon revealed that a fund run by Xiaomi became its second-largest external shareholder in June.
VeriSilicon's biggest external shareholder is the China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, a centralized, national-level fund for the domestic semiconductor industry.
The firm is headquartered in Shanghai and has R&D centers in both China and the United States. It typically works as a contractor to other chip companies, helping them complete additional parts of semiconductor design.
Chips away
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, according to the latest data from research firm IDC. However, it has had less success in chips.
The company launched a semiconductor division in 2014. Three years later, it announced its first system-on-a-chip, the Surge S1. The chip was featured in Xiaomi's Mi 5 smartphone but was not rolled out more widely.
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.
In the broader tech sphere, e-commerce major Alibaba Group Holding Ltd last year bought Chinese chipmaker C-Sky. Its chief technology officer later said the firm will unveil its first AI chip in the second half of 2019.
