Latest reports show that Chinese manufacturer, Xiaomi has acquired about 6% of Chinese chip design company VeriSilicon Microelectronics. This acquisition makes Xiaomi the fourth largest shareholder of the company. The Chinese smartphone manufacturer is adjusting over the years to the semiconductor field.
With its headquarter in Shanghai, VeriSilicon has research and development centers in the US and China. The company’s core innovation goal is in the semiconductor industry. Often, this company is a contractor for other chip companies to help them complete part of their semiconductor design work. At present, the process of listing the core board of VeriSilicon Microelectronics is ongoing. The company’s latest round of financing took place in June which was the last before the company went public.
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A document submitted by VeriSilicon Microelectronics revealed that a fund operated by Xiaomi became its second largest external shareholder in June this year. Xiaomi confirmed the investment. IDC’s latest data shows that since the release of the first smartphone at the beginning of this century, Xiaomi has grown rapidly and became the world’s fourth-largest smartphone seller in the first quarter of this year. However, it has less success in terms of chips. Xiaomi established a semiconductor division in 2014. Three years later, the company announced its first system-on-a-chip Surge S1. This chip is used in the Xiaomi Mi 5 smartphone, but it has not been widely promoted.
After that, Xiaomi did not have any major chip announcement until April this year. At the time, an internal memo said that the company would spin off part of the chip business and set up a subsidiary called Big Fish, focusing on making chips for IoT devices.
