(Yicai Global) Dec. 28 -- Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies today registered a wholly owned precision manufacturing firm. But the new company has no intention of making semiconductor chips, an insider told Yicai Global.

“We won’t produce chips,” the person said. “Our main business is to manufacture some core devices, modules and components for Huawei’s wireless and digital energy products, including the assembly, packaging and testing of some products.”

Since last year, there has been much speculation about whether Huawei will set up a chip-manufacturing business. The Shenzhen-based company already has its own chip design subsidiary, HiSilicon.

Rotating Chairman Xu Zhijun told Yicai Global in September that chip production would require the combined efforts of China’s entire semiconductor industry chain, and it would take a huge effort and a long time.

The new unit, Huawei Precision Manufacturing, has a registered capital of CNY600 million (USD94.1 million), according to corporate information platform Qichacha.

Its business covers optical communications gear, optoelectronic devices, electronic components and semiconductor discrete devices, meaning the packaging and testing of discrete devices, the insider said.

“The firm is expected to boast a certain scale of mass production and small batch trial production,” the person added.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Peter Thomas