Xiaomi signals intent to bring chipmaking in-house

Chinese technology company Xiaomi has purchased a 6% stake in Shanghai-based semiconductor company VeriSilicon Holdings for an undisclosed sum, reports Reuters. Xiaomi's investment in VeriSilicon makes it the chipmaker's second-largest investor, putting Xiaomi in a position toguide the chipmaker's development efforts and ensure it has a supply line for the silicon it needs.

The investment is a continuation of Xiaomi's efforts — dating back to 2014 but more active in recent years — to augment its China-based chipmaking options while it also strives to move some semiconductor design and development in-house.

Here's what it means: If Xiaomi can further develop its semiconductor line of business, it could gain greater control over its smartphone and smart home device development and reduce its reliance on relationships with the likes of Qualcomm.

Xiaomi has created its own custom chips in the past, but its current lineup is, like most of the mobile phone world, highly dependent upon Qualcomm and its Snapdragon chips.

In 2017, Xiaomi released a version of its flagship Mi phone that boasted an in-house system-on-a-chip (SoC) design, the Surge S1, which offered comparable performance to a contemporary midrange Qualcomm processor. Since that foray, though, the company has stuck with Qualcomm for its SoC needs, rather than going to market with additional internal designs.

Other companies in the smartphone segment have also moved SoC business in-house or to subsidiaries:

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Source: Business Insider

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