Key points
- Xiaomi’s XringO1 chip uses ARM architecture, made by TSMC’s 3-nm node
- Xiaomi resumed mobile chip development in 2021 after initial stall
- Qualcomm remains Xiaomi’s main chip supplier despite new developments
ISLAMABAD: Chinese tech giant Xiaomi will invest 50 billion yuan ($6.9 billion) in developing high-end smartphone chips, the firm’s founder said on Monday.
Xiaomi, which sells goods from smartphones to vacuum cleaners and EVs, is one of China’s most prominent consumer electronics firms.
Writing on social media platform WeChat to mark the 15th year since the company’s establishment, Lei Jun said: “chips are the underlying core track for Xiaomi to break through in cutting-edge technology, so we will definitely make an all-out effort”.
Semiconductor ambitions
In pursuit of Xiaomi’s semiconductor ambitions, the firm has developed an investment plan involving “at least 10 years of investment and at least 50 billion yuan”, Lei added.
The Chinese smartphone and EV maker said on Thursday it will launch a new self-developed advanced mobile chip, XringO1, in late May, according to Reuters.
Xiaomi’s XringO1 chip uses ARM architecture, made by TSMC’s 3-nm node. It resumed mobile chip development in 2021 after initially stalling the project.
Qualcomm remains Xiaomi’s main chip supplier despite new developments.
It seeks to power more of its high-end devices with proprietary silicon.
Initial steps
The announcement was made by Xiaomi’s CEO Lei Jun on his Weibo account. He did not give any further details, the British news agency said.
Xiaomi took initial steps into semiconductors for smartphones with the launch of the firm’s first in-house chip — the Surge S1 — in 2017.
But the group was forced to halt production of the chip due to technical and financial obstacles, and has since refocused on other components as well as a move into the electric vehicle sector.
“That is not our ‘dark history’. That is the path we have travelled,” wrote Lei on Monday.
Since 2021, Xiaomi’s chip development programme has already received 13.5 billion yuan in research and development funds for a team of more than 2,500 employees, said the billionaire entrepreneur.
Heightened technological tensions
The announcement comes in the face of heightened technological tensions between Beijing and Washington as both nations seek to ensure access to the most advanced components.
A number of Chinese firms are racing to develop their own chips with the aim of freeing themselves from reliance on foreign suppliers in the face of that rivalry.
“Xiaomi has always had a ‘chip dream’,” Lei wrote, adding: “I earnestly request everyone to give us more time and patience to support our continued exploration on this road”.
