Huawei Chip Unit HiSilicon Opens Douyin Account for Custom Designs
- tech360.tv
- Aug 23
- 2 min read
Huawei Technologies' in-house chip design unit, HiSilicon (Shanghai), has opened a Douyin account to promote its custom design services. This move follows a period of maintaining secrecy around its Kirin smartphone and Ascend artificial intelligence chips.
The new Douyin account by HiSilicon (Shanghai) stated its aim is to "enable smart devices for a fully connected world." As of Thursday, the account had nearly 50,000 followers and three posts.
The first post, published Wednesday, was a video introducing the Shanghai-based business. It stated its products are designed for applications in smart homes, consumer electronics, and the automotive sector.
The second post, also from Wednesday, featured NearLink, a short-range wireless connection technology developed by Huawei. The video demonstrated NearLink's use in automatically opening and locking doors on Aito cars, produced by Huawei's partner Seres Group.
NearLink is described as integrating advantages from traditional wireless technologies, including Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. The third Douyin post, published Thursday afternoon, promoted solutions for smart terminals.
Established in 1991, HiSilicon serves as Huawei's internal chip design unit. It is credited with developing the Kirin processors that power the parent company's smartphones.
HiSilicon (Shanghai) has also maintained an account on Tencent Holdings' WeChat social media platform since 2024. This account has published dozens of posts promoting its chip designs for displays, wearable devices, and video gaming.
While Huawei promotes its custom chip design unit to external customers, it has been largely secretive about its progress on Kirin chips for smartphones and Ascend chips for artificial intelligence applications.
A recent revelation showed Huawei's Pura 80 handsets are powered by HiSilicon's Kirin 9020 system-on-a-chip. This marks the first time in approximately five years that the US-sanctioned company has disclosed details about its advanced smartphone processors.
The chipset name became visible in screenshots shared online by Pura 80 users after a handset system update. Previously, information about processors in Huawei's 5G smartphones, such as the Mate 60 Pro and Mate 70 series, was uncovered only through third-party teardown analyses.
Huawei is expected to launch its Mate 80 series in the fourth quarter of 2025, reportedly powered by the next-generation Kirin 9030 chip. This information comes from earlier reports by tech media Wccftech and Chinese tech bloggers.
Huawei has not yet disclosed any information regarding the Mate 80 launch or the specific chips it will incorporate. Public interest in new chips is high, with one Douyin user with the handle of Jinan commenting, "I’ve been waiting for Kirin 9030."
Huawei's semiconductor capabilities are a closely watched aspect of China's drive for technological self-sufficiency amidst US export restrictions. The company's Ascend artificial intelligence chips are considered crucial for China to reduce its reliance on US-based Nvidia.
HiSilicon (Shanghai), Huawei's chip unit, launched a Douyin account to promote its custom chip design services.
The Douyin account, which had nearly 50,000 followers by Thursday, features posts on smart device applications and Huawei's NearLink technology.
HiSilicon, established in 1991, designed the Kirin processors for Huawei's smartphones.
Source: SCMP
