Huawei is counteracting the US ban that stops them from securing many of the semiconductors they require, by investing heavily in Chinese chip companies.
According to data compiled by PitchBook, Huawei has established the Hubble Technology Investment fund, which has so far backed 56 companies tasked with strengthening China’s semiconductor supply chain, with half these investments made in the past six months.
This move is born of necessity, with Huawei reporting that US restrictions lessened its 2021 revenue by close to a third.
“The supply chain in semiconductors is a long, long supply chain,” said Hui He, head of China semiconductor research for Omdia, a tech research firm.
“When Huawei invests in a chip company, they can get priority supply from this chip supplier, especially in a shortage situation.”
Huawei Chief Executive Ren Zhengfei told employees the company needs more “theoretical breakthroughs, especially in domains like compound semiconductors and materials science.”
“Currently, Japan and the U.S. are the leaders in these domains,” he told staff in an August note.
“We must leverage our global platforms to enable our success.”
