Huawei reportedly backed over 60 China’s chip firms to counter US ban

US ban hit Huawei in 2019 and since then, the company has invested in more than 60 Chinese chip firms to foster its own supply chain. The tech giant took this step to overcome the lack of access to US-based technology and advanced products.

NikkeiAsia reported that despite the US ban, Huawei was able to invest in the 60-plus Chinese chip firms due to the Hubble company, its subsidiary. It is a venture capital facility, established in 2019 and used to invest in AI, chips, and manufacturing.

With the help of Hubble, Huawei backed over 60 semiconductor firms in its home ground to build a self-reliant supply chain that can meet the chip-related needs.

Further input reveals that Huawei Hubble owns equity shares in 50+ chip companies. Revealing the role of Huawei’s subsidiary, NikkeiAsia said:

“Its investments cover the full semiconductor supply chain – from design and materials to manufacturing and testing – with most of its shareholdings remaining below 10%.”

The report also reveals some chip firms where Huawei has invested in the past year. The list includes Huahai Chengke New Material from 2021. It makes packaging materials for HBM (high-bandwidth memory) processors.

Last year, Huawei invested in Suzhou Carbon Semiconductor Technology, which specializes in carbon nanotube-based wafers that are better than silicon wafers.

A recent report revealed that Huawei is planning to design a 3nm chip by 2026 with carbon-based wafers instead of silicon. Thus, the chip firms are actually helping the company to build advanced processors for phones and AI products.

Details add that the increase in chip development costs has eventually led to Huawei’s net loss of $56 million for Q4 2024. But as per the company, that doesn’t seem to be a problem as somewhere these expenses contribute to the firm’s growth.

Huawei Technologies (Image Credits: Weibo)

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