Huawei is stepping up its efforts to gain a footing in the local chip-making industry. (Photo : Huawei)
As a result of the Chinese government's decision to support local innovation, many local tech firms have been eyeing to make their own chips and software products for mobile gadgets and veer away from too much dependence on foreign companies.
This development comes after major Chinese tech powerhouses have dominated the country's smartphone market--by a whopping 80 percent.
China's biggest smartphone vendor by shipments, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. has been the staunchest advocate of locally made chips, China Daily reported.
Its latest flagship device, the Mate 8, uses a home-made processor called Kirin 950. According to Huawei's consumer division chief Yu Chengdong, "the processing power of Mate 8 will make other vendors' devices look weak."
Kirin 950, developed and produced by Huawei's chip-making subsidiary, HiSilicon Technologies Co. Ltd., earned the market's nod for its power-efficient design and processing speed.
Putting high hopes on the chip, Huawei said it eyes to challenge the U.S.'s Qualcomm Inc. and Taiwan's MediaTek Inc., which are the current market leaders.
HiSilicon has a 7.73-percent share in the chip market as of 2015, AnTuTu, a smartphone performance review firm, said. In 2014, the figure was only less than 3 percent.
According to analysts, Chinese-made chips will have a bigger room in 2016, citing information security concerns as one of the main reasons.
China Daily reported that Speadtrum Communications Inc., a chip maker of state-owned phones, is eyeing to spend 300 billion yuan to become a globally competitive player and produce chips that have the power to hold personal data, publish views and shape opinions.
The firm believes that it is not safe to have chips made abroad be used in state-owned phones, giving rise to the need to develop their own chipsets.
Ye Tianchun, Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Microelectronics director, said that the local chip-making sector is set to expand its presence in the international market swiftly, especially now that the government has made plans to foster tech upgrade.
"Chip-making is a critical technology for many areas, including smartphones. China is set to grow a strong chip sector, so we don't need to beg other countries for key chipsets," Ye said.
