MORRISVILLE – Lenovo, the world’s top producer of PCs, reportedly is getting into the semiconductor business as the world continues to fight a shortage of chips to help power devices from computers to motor vehicles.

A spokesperson for Lenovo confirmed the news first rreported by China-based news site Pandaily on Thursday, saying Lenovo has established a semiconductor company in Shanghai under the name Dingdao Zhixin (Shanghai) Semiconductor Co., Ltd.

The firm is “100% controlled” by Lenovo, Pandaily said, citing information from “business inquiry platform Qichacha.”

“Lenovo has a long history of developing and investing in innovations and technologies and following the announcement at our FY2021 Q1 earnings (Aug ’21) to double R&D investment over three years, we continue to explore technologies and opportunities that support our global vision and ambitions in ‘Client-Edge-Cloud-Network-Intelligence’ architecture,” the spokesperson said,

The demand for semiconductors is a global challenge with some US companies down to a five-day supply, according to a US government report earlier this week.

Chip shortage worsens: Some manufacturers have less than 5 days’ supply

The company’s “business scope covers the design and sales of integrated circuits and businesses in the field of semiconductor technology,” Pandaily added.

Jia Zhaohui, a senior vice president of Lenovo Group, is the legal representative for the firm, the report noted.

Lenovo’s Chipmaking Confirmed With Establishment of Semiconductor Subsidiary

Lenovo maintains two headquarters – one in Morrisville, the other in Beijing. Its stock is traded on the Hong Kong exchange.

A move into semiconductors would add more versatility to the company, which under CEO and Chair Yang Yuanqing has strived for years to diversify from reliance on PCs.

Lenovo is a global leader in servers, supercomputers, services related to all things smart/internet, and is a global manufacturer of smartphones.