U.S. Sanctions Have Been Bad for Huawei, but Worse for Its Chip Design Unit

Editor’s note: This story is part of a series that looks at mainland smartphone makers’ efforts to design their own chips amid China’s campaign to create a self-sufficient semiconductor industry. Click here to read about how Oppo Co. Ltd. abruptly shut down its chipmaking arm Zeku in May, and here for how Xiaomi is holding fast to its chipmaking dreams in the wake of the closure. The developments have left investors wondering which of China’s 3,000 other chip design hopefuls might be next.