Japan-based semiconductor company Renesas Electronics announced it will partner with Alibaba’s cloud division to accelerate the growth of IoT in China and expand its online sales channels in the mainland.

As part of a strategic alliance, Renesas is embedding Alibaba Cloud’s IoT operating system (AliOS Things) into its RX65N and RX651 range of 32-bit microcontrollers (MCUs), a move Renesas said will make it easier for developers to connect IoT node devices and gateways to the Alibaba Cloud.

Tomomitsu Maoka, SVP and GM of Renesas’ China Business Unit, said: “Combining our rich MCU lineup and comprehensive semiconductor solutions with Alibaba’s powerful IoT ecosystem will help customers achieve China’s growth plans for smart cities, smart homes, and smart factories.”

Wei Ku, VP of Alibaba Group and GM of Alibaba Cloud’s IoT Business Unit said: “Teaming our AliOS Things IoT operating system and Alibaba Cloud services with Renesas MCUs will further expand Alibaba Cloud’s IoT hardware ecosystem, allowing more developers to use Renesas products.”

To expand sales in China, Renesas opened an online store on Alibaba’s Tmall e-commerce platform. It also will join Alibaba Cloud University and the IoT Connectivity Alliance.

The chipmaker supplies microcontrollers to Amazon and other cloud platforms.

Last week Alibaba announced plans to set up a chip subsidiary to create customised artificial intelligence (AI) chips and embedded processors to support its cloud and IoT businesses, China Daily reported.

The company plans to launch its first in-house AI chip – AliNPU – in the second half of 2019.