In this picture illustration, the emblem of Xiaomi’s XRing O1 chipset is seen on May 19, 2025 in Beijing, China. Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun introduced on the night of May 15 that the corporate’s self-developed smartphone SoC, XRING 01, can be formally launched in late May.
Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images
Chinese know-how large Xiaomi is planning a brand new high-end chip for its smartphones, a high government on the firm advised CNBC, however will not launch one on a yearly foundation like rival Apple.
Xu Fei, the vice chairman of Xiaomi, mentioned the agency’s semiconductor ambitions, giving particulars about its roadmap for the product.
Xiaomi’s deal with creating its personal chips mirrors efforts by high smartphone makers like Apple, Samsung and Huawei, because the Beijing-headquartered agency seems to broaden its share globally, significantly on the dearer finish of the market.
Last 12 months, Xiaomi launched a system-on-chip called the XRing 01 for its personal smartphones. It relies on a 3 nanometer manufacturing course of, one of the superior in the marketplace. A system-on-chip, or SoC, is a kind of semiconductor that incorporates completely different parts that assist run a tool.
Xiaomi on the time dedicated to invest at least 50 billion yuan ($7 billion) over the next 10 years to develop its personal chips.
Xu stated that the corporate was “planning ahead” for its next generation of chip, however stated she will be able to’t promise it can launch a brand new SoC every year.
“We are a a newcomer here, we need to learn and we need to plan,” Xu stated.
Apple first launched its personal system-on-chips in 2010 below the A collection moniker. It has launched a brand new A collection semiconductor every year, with the newest one, referred to as the A19, featured within the iPhone 17 fashions.
Xu revealed the considering behind Xiaomi’s launch timeline and the way it pertains to the corporate’s return on funding. There can be 1 million models of the XRing 01 shipped, Xu stated, however Xiaomi might want to produce 10 million models per chip launch for it to be a breakeven a part of the enterprise.
“So for us, we know we probably need to have ten years patience for the SoC to finally break even,” Xu advised CNBC. “So at the first time, we just need to make sure the experience is good enough, the performance is good enough.”
Why Xiaomi is designing chips
An SoC is a essential a part of a smartphone, performing just like the mind of the machine. Apple has had success designing its personal chips as a result of it is ready to have better management of the combination between its {hardware} and software program.
That means the {hardware} might be tailor-made to extra effeciently run the software program, creating a greater expertise for the person.
Xiaomi has its personal Android-based working system referred to as HyperOS and a set of synthetic intelligence functions referred to as HyperAI. A custom-made chip for its personal units may assist energy this software program extra effectively.
“It brings in vertical expertise to provide a tightly integrated experience with HyperOS and HyperAI to its ecosystem similar to Apple or Google,” Neil Shah, companion at Counterpoint Research, advised CNBC.
While Xiaomi is a serious smartphone participant, it sells merchandise spanning from smartwatches to rice cookers, fridges and electrical autos. Developing an SoC for smartphones will give it experience to develop silicon for different merchandise too, Shah stated.
Where does that go away Qualcomm and MediaTek?
Xiaomi’s smartphones at present depend on a mixture of chips from U.S. agency Qualcomm and Taiwanese firm MediaTek.
The Xiaomi 17 smartphone which was launched this week, for instance, options Qualcomm’s newest SoC.
Xiaomi’s Xu stated the corporate goes to proceed utilizing Qualcomm and MediaTek merchandise even because it develops its personal semiconductors.
“For Qualcomm, MediaTek, they are super, extremely good partners. We’ve been working them for 15 years, so we will continue this path. And at the same time, we’ll select … [the] right product to try our own chipset. We are going with two solutions at the same time,” Xu stated.
“So we made it very clear to our partners: don’t be too worried at all.”