Chinese e-commerce giant says the acquisition allows it to strengthen its presence in the cloud-based IoT space
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is looking to expand its operations in the cloud-based internet of things market through the acquisition of compatriot microchip maker Hangzhou C-SKY Microsystems.
Alibaba highlighted that the recent acquisition will allow it to strengthen its offering in different industries. “Alibaba aims to empower different industries through our cloud-based IoT solutions, in which chips play a significant role,” the company said in a statement. “The acquisition of Hangzhou C-SKY Microsystems, a leading Chinese supplier of embedded CPU cores, underlines our commitment to driving the development of the chip industry.”
Alibaba did not disclose the financial terms of the acquisition.
Founded in 2001, C-SKY Microsystems develops embedded CPU and chip architectures. The company has developed seven types of CPUs covering a wide range of embedded applications, including IoT, digital audio & video, information security, network and communications, industrial control and automotive electronics.
Alibaba Group has already invested in a number of chip makers including Cambricon Technologies, DeePhi Tech, Kneron and Barefoot Networks.
Alibaba Group recently announced plans to build a network of 10 billion connected devices within the next five years as part of a push to expand its business in the IoT field.
“Our vision is to build an intelligently connected world through transformative IoT technologies,” Simon Hu Xiaoming, the president of Alibaba Cloud, recently said in a statement. “IoT will sit alongside e-commerce, finance, logistics and cloud in its own right, and command relevant focus and resources, in order to become the new strategic track for Alibaba.”
The Chinese firm recently said that its research and development arm, DAMO Academy, is currently developing a neural network chip dubbed Ali-NPU, which will be used in image analysis, machine learning and other AI applications.
