Huakun deepens Huawei tie-up, targets ASEAN growth via Hong Kong

Huakun's expansion reflects a broader shift in China's server supply chain away from x86 architectures (Intel and AMD). Founded in 2020, Huakun has stabilized its domestic revenue and is now using Hong Kong as a geographic and regulatory gateway to reach markets in Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and South Asia—regions where Huawei has long sought to build influence. The partnership model with Huawei, in which Huawei supplies core silicon and reference designs while Huakun handles manufacturing and logistics, allows Huawei to maintain control over its computing ecosystem without directly operating factories overseas, reducing regulatory and operational risk.

The timing of Huakun's Hong Kong expansion in 2025 aligns with accelerating demand for on-premises AI inference. Applications like DeepSeek have demonstrated the commercial viability of inference workloads that run locally rather than in the cloud—a trend that benefits system integrators and server makers positioned outside the dominant x86 ecosystem. Huakun's 13.7% share of China's non-x86 server market in 2025 establishes it as the leading independent player in this segment, making it a credible supplier for regional partners. The company's projection of rising export volumes and average selling prices through 2026, driven by both demand and rising memory costs, suggests confidence in sustained growth in these target markets.