Tech war: Huawei names new head of HiSilicon unit as Chinese chipmakers consolidate
It was unclear if the personnel changes were due to Huawei’s rotating chairman system or any adjustment in HiSilicon’s business structure
Huawei Technologies has reshuffled the leadership of its in-house chip design unit, HiSilicon, at a time when China’s semiconductor industry is consolidating amid the escalating US-China tech war.
The Shenzhen-based Huawei unit has promoted Jeffery Gao, head of its Shanghai division, to the position of HiSilicon chairman. He replaced Eric Xu, deputy chairman of the overall Huawei group, who had also been leading the chip unit since 2008, according to the latest information from Chinese corporate data provider Tianyancha.
Gao, who graduated from Southeast University in Nanjing with a degree in telecommunications engineering, joined Huawei in 2012 and has led the company’s transmission and router product lines, according to his LinkedIn page. He became the general manager of HiSilicon’s optoelectronics department in 2019.
Gao also replaced Xu as the legal representative of HiSilicon, according to Tianyancha.
It was unclear if the personnel changes were due to Huawei’s rotating chairman system or any adjustment in HiSilicon’s business structure. Xu took over as Huawei’s rotating chairman on April 1, and was scheduled to stay in the position until September 30.
Huawei did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.