Demand for HiSilicon's chips has been robust, according to sources at Taiwan-based IC backend firms, which have identified the China-based fabless IC vendor as one of their important or target customers.

HiSilicon is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Huawei, which has been expanding its presence in the global smartphone market. According to Gartner, Huawei's share of the worldwide smartphone market climbed to 8.3% in the first quarter of 2016 from 5.4% a year earlier, with unit sales displaying a 59.4% on-year jump.

HiSilicon has reportedly contracted Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to manufacture its chips, and has both Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL) and King Yuan Electronics (KYEC) for the packaging and testing part.