Huawei has started investing in emerging Chinese chip companies as the telecoms group accelerates efforts to become self-reliant in semiconductor technologies in the face of US sanctions, reported the Financial Times.
Hubble Technology Investment, a RMB 2.7 billion ($413 million) fund set up by Huawei in April last year, has acquired minority stakes in three Chinese semiconductor equipment companies over the past three months.
That marks a significant shift in strategy that observers believe is linked to Huawei’s plans for “de-Americanised” chip production, as the Shenzhen-based group struggles in the face of US restrictions.
Hubble was previously “investing mainly in companies that can be direct suppliers to Huawei, but a couple of recent investments are different”, said Mark Li, a chip analyst at Bernstein in Hong Kong. “They are semiconductor equipment vendors that are not going to be direct suppliers to Huawei.”