Huawei tries to acquire chip ecosystem

Huawei has bought stakes in 20 Chinese chip companies and is talking to more in an attempt to secure IC supplies in the face of US restrictions, reports the Nikkei.

Among its investments are:

A 15% stake in EDA company NineCube;

A 6% stake in analogue company 3Peak

A 4.58% stake in frequency filters and antenna specialist CaiQin Technology

Stakes in SICC and Tankeblue Semiconductor, which make silicon carbide wafers

Stakes in production equipment manufacturers Shenzhen Skyverse and Ningbo Allsemi Microelectronics Equipment

Huawei is also in talks to invest in SiEn (QingDao) Integrated Circuits.

Huawei’s own fabless chip company, HiSilicon, can’t get its chips made in foundries which use US-made production equipment because of US restrictions. That means Huawei chips can’t be made in leading-edge foundries.

China’s ability to supply its own market is falling woefully short of the 70% target set by the China government for 2025.

IC Insights says that domestically made ICs supplied only 15.9% of the China market last year, and will only supply 19.4% of its IC market in 2025.