HiSilicon, the in-house semiconductor and IC design company operated by Huawei Technologies, said it has begun selling its 4G chip, the Balong 711, on the open market as demand for internet-backed solutions continues to surge. The chip, which has seen shipments of 100 million units for Huawei products and its clients since it was launched in 2014, provides high-speed, reliable network connectivity for internet of things (IoT) applications, according to a statement posted on Huawei’s official WeChat account. The Balong 711 could be used for IoT products like surveillance cameras, vending machines and smart lockers that require stable internet connections to function. Huawei said it has no additional comment on the move. Huawei’s chip could face fierce competition in the market because rival chip makers such as US-based Qualcomm and Taiwan’s MediaTek have similar offerings and the market for IoT chips is already mature, said Fang Jing, a Shanghai-based analyst with China Merchants Securities. US chipmakers urge Trump to hurry Huawei licenses As a so-called fabless chip company, HiSilicon, along with rivals Qualcomm and MediaTek, rely on independent wafer foundries like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to fabricate their designs onto silicon. “The move suggests that Huawei might adopt the strategy of selling older versions of its chips on the open market,” said Fang, who believes the company could start selling its Balong 5000 – a multi-mode chipset that supports networks from 2G to 5G, next year when wider 5G commercialisation is underway. Privately-owned Huawei, which was added to Washington’s Entity List in May, preventing it from purchasing US products and services, has stepped up strategic investments and added thousands of researchers in a bid to counter the US ban, company founder and chief executive Ren Zhengfei said in earlier interviews. Huawei will continue to use chips from US vendors including Qualcomm even though the Chinese company is able to realise self-sufficiency through its own designs and supplies, according to Ren. US companies wanting to sell to companies on the Entity List need to apply for an exemption from the ban and recent reports suggest some approvals will soon be granted in the case of Huawei, which spent US$11 billion on buying US components in 2018. The Shenzhen-based company, also the world’s largest telecom equipment vendor, has committed to invest an additional US$1.5 billion in incentives to expand its software developer base from 1.3 million to 5 million to come up with the next generation of intelligent applications and solutions after the company launched its Atlas 900 AI computing system in Shanghai last month. For more insights into China tech, sign up for our tech newsletters , subscribe to our Inside China Tech podcast , and download the comprehensive 2019 China Internet Report . Also roam China Tech City , an award-winning interactive digital map at our sister site Abacus .