Huawei Technologies, the Chinese tech giant that has been under US export controls since 2019, is shipping new Chinese-made chips for surveillance cameras to its customers, according to two sources familiar with the unit’s efforts.
The sources said that Huawei’s HiSilicon chip design unit started shipping the new chips this year, and that some of the customers were Chinese. HiSilicon was the dominant chip supplier to the surveillance camera sector before the US sanctions, with a global market share of 60% in 2018, according to Southwest Securities. However, its market share dropped to 3.9% in 2021, according to Frost & Sullivan.
The new chips are a sign that Huawei is finding ways around the US export controls, which have barred it from obtaining components and technology from US firms without approval. The US has accused Huawei of violating sanctions on Iran and stealing trade secrets, charges that Huawei denies.
Huawei has also unveiled new smartphones in recent weeks that use advanced chips, which analysts say are domestically made. The company has made breakthroughs in design tools for chips produced at and above 14 nanometres, which are two to three generations behind leading-edge technology, but an advance for the company.
“These surveillance chips are relatively easy to manufacture compared to smartphone processors,” said one of the sources familiar with the surveillance camera industry’s supply chain, adding that HiSilicon’s return would shake up the market.
Huawei’s main competitors in the surveillance camera chip market are Taiwan’s Novatek Microelectronics Corp and MediaTek Inc. China is the world’s largest market for surveillance cameras, with an estimated 200 million cameras installed as of 2019.