You know that CPU in your HUAWEI smartphones that you are so used to? Yes, the HUAWEI branded processing chip that has been a staple in HUAWEI’s flagships and other smartphones. Yes, HiSilicon, as the title named. No, they are still HUAWEI’s subsidiary.

From 2020 onward though you might not just see HUAWEI devices fitting in chips from their in-house chip maker. They are starting to sell their chip technologies and processing chips to other manufacturers, expanding their business opportunities.

It does make a lot of sense this move of opening themselves up to the bigger market. HiSilicon makes some of the world’s cleverest and powerful processing chips to be put in a smartphone. The HiSilicon Kirin 990 for example, is proven to be one of the most powerful System on a Chip (SoC) to be found on a smartphone. So it is not like they make subpar products, they do make some compelling stuff. It is just that we have never seen anyone other than HUAWEI using the chips due to HUAWEI’s agreement with their subsidiary.

These years where Shanghai HiSilicon operates exclusively for HUAWEI too sees the Chinese telecommunication giant benefit from the clever chip designs of the chip manufacturer. The Kirin SoC series is partly responsible for HUAWEI’s successful P series and Mate series line-ups thanks to the clever dedicated Neural Processing Unit (mostly known as an AI chip) integration, first in the world in the HiSilicon Kirin 970.

The expansion does not just cover smartphone SoC sales though. The expansion also extends to Shenzhen HiSilicon expanding their manufacturing scope to more than just smartphone chips. They will be responsible for making processing chips for things like smart TVs, set-top boxes, and other smart home electronics that needs a processing chip.

Source: Android Central