China semiconductors: China Mobile and Apple supplier Luxshare jump on chip investment frenzy
- China Mobile official Liu Chunyang pledged to ‘catch up’ in chip design for Internet of Things (IoT) applications
- Taiwan’s exports to mainland China in June surged 29 per cent from a year ago to US$16 billion, bolstered by strong exports of semiconductors
China’s semiconductor investment frenzy has received a fresh boost after the country’s largest mobile carrier and a key supplier to Apple jumped on the bandwagon by setting up their own chip units, according to corporate registry information.
A wholly-owned subsidiary of China Mobile, the world‘s biggest mobile network operator by subscribers, has incorporated a company for chip design and manufacture in eastern Jiangsu province, with registered capital of 50 million yuan (US$7.7 million), according to Tianyancha, a Chinese corporate registry data service.
At an opening ceremony for the chip unit, called XinSheng Tech, held in Beijing last week, China Mobile deputy general manager for Internet of Things (IoT) Liu Chunyang pledged to “catch up” in chip design for IoT applications, according to a statement published on its official social media account.
Separately, Luxshare Precision, a manufacturing partner to US tech giant Apple, formed a chip subsidiary last Friday in Kunshan, Jiangsu province, with registered capital of 300 million yuan, according to Tianyancha.
The foray by China Mobile, which had 942.8 million total mobile subscribers in the country as of the end of May, and Luxshare Precision, into the chip business comes amid a national drive to achieve semiconductor self-sufficiency.