Taiwan’s MediaTek is seeking to cooperate with Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi to develop and promote Internet of Things (IoT) products using its chips.

The Taiwanese silicon vendor’s CEO, Hsieh Ching-jiang, said the company has added employees to work on Xiaomi projects and that the relationship with the Chinese vendor “is smooth”, the Nikkei Asia Review reported.

He told the Review it would like to support Xiaomi in the IoT business as well as see its chips find their way into a broader range of Xiaomi devices.

Fast-growing MediaTek, which owes its success in part to Xiaomi and other Chinese smartphone makers, invested CNY73 million ($12 million) last May in China-based Autochip, a subsidiary with a few hundred employees, that focuses on automotive navigation.

Hsieh said that when autonomous vehicles become available, its chips will be vital in processing camera and sensor data as well as vehicle control, the Review said.

Last week at CES in Las Vegas MediaTek signed up Google and Sony as customers for its system-on-chip (SoC) hardware for Android TV, as the ambitious company targets growth beyond low and mid-range smartphones.

Xiaomi has taken a number of steps to diversify beyond smartphones, tablets and TVs. Last year it beta-tested four smart home gadgets – a webcam, light bulb, power plug and remote control centre — and also has launched an air purifier, a blood pressure monitor and a WiFi router.