(Yicai Global) April 3 -- Xiaomi plans to set up a standalone semiconductor unit, whose staff will own 75 percent of the business, and said the move will promote the Chinese smartphone maker's chip development efforts and advance its Artificial Intelligence of Things strategy.

Xiaomi will shift employees from Pinecone Electronics to Dayu Semiconductors, the new company, China Daily reported yesterday, citing an internal letter. Xiaomi will hold the remaining stake in Nanjing-based Dayu, which is encouraged to seek independent financing.

The team left at Pinecone, which was formed in October 2014 to develop Xiaomi's own chipsets and microprocessors, will continue to focus on phone processors and other smart chips. Beijing-based Xiaomi released Surge S1, its first in-house processor, in 2017. 

Xiaomi will keep investing in more areas of chip development, founder and Chief Executive Lei Jun said in the letter. The level of control that Dayu's team will enjoy shows Xiaomi's effort to explore the deep waters of investment in technology research, he added.

Editor: Emmi Laine