Xiaomi is preparing its own chips for smartphones, mass production could begin as early as 2025 to reduce reliance on Qualcomm and MediaTek
Chinese consumer electronics maker
Xiaomi Prepares Own Mobile Chip, Pressuring MediaTek and Qualcomm - Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-11-26/xiaomi-readies-own-mobile-chip-pressuring-mediatek-and-qualcomm
Xiaomi reportedly making its own chip for Android phones
https://9to5google.com/2024/11/26/xiaomi-chip-report-android-phones-2025/
Xiaomi Set To Challenge Qualcomm, MediaTek As It Ventures Into Chipmaking Once Again - Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) - Benzinga
https://www.benzinga.com/tech/24/11/42190353/xiaomi-set-to-challenge-qualcomm-mediatek-as-it-ventures-into-chipmaking-once-again
Bloomberg reported that, citing sources familiar with Xiaomi's internal information, Xiaomi plans to begin mass-producing its own mobile chips in 2025. Regarding the timing of '2025,' Bloomberg pointed out that 'this may be an indication of China's intention to join the ranks of tech companies investing in the semiconductor sector, which China considers important in its technological race with the United States.'
The Chinese government has repeatedly called on Chinese companies to reduce their reliance on foreign technology, and Xiaomi's indigenous development of mobile chips is seen as a step in this effort. Beijing-based Xiaomi invested heavily in the electric vehicle sector in 2024, so if it were to enter the semiconductor sector in 2025, it would be entering yet another cutting-edge field, Bloomberg points out.
Xiaomi is a close partner of Qualcomm and is one of the first companies to release smartphones equipped with the latest models of Qualcomm's mobile chip, Snapdragon. In fact, Xiaomi's latest smartphone, the Xiaomi 15 series, is a smartphone equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Elite , which Qualcomm just announced in October 2024.
However, Bloomberg points out that 'it's not easy to make a breakthrough in the field of smartphone chips. In fact, manufacturers with high shares in the PC semiconductor field such as Intel and NVIDIA, and smartphone manufacturer OPPO, have lost the competition in the mobile semiconductor manufacturing field. Even Samsung, which leads the smartphone market, relies heavily on Qualcomm chips and uses its own Exynos chips only in some regional models and low-end devices.
On the other hand, Apple has long used its own chips in iPhones, and has extended this policy to Macs and iPads in the form of Apple Silicon . For Android, Google has been moving to its own mobile chip, Tensor, since the Pixel 6 announced in 2021.
Google's proprietary 8-core CPU & 20-core GPU SoC 'Tensor' announced for Pixel 6/6 Pro - GIGAZINE
In addition, Tensor is based on Samsung's Exynos from the first generation to the fourth generation, but it is reported that the fifth generation 'Tensor G5' to be released in 2025 will be a completely original design that does not depend on Exynos. It is rumored that TSMC will be in charge of manufacturing the new Tensor G5.
Reports that Google is preparing 'Tensor G5', a completely proprietary processor for smartphones that is not dependent on Samsung - GIGAZINE
Bloomberg said, 'For Xiaomi, designing its own mobile chips in-house will help it develop smarter, better connected cars , rather than just developing more competitive mobile devices. Xiaomi's move into the auto manufacturing sector comes after the company faced sanctions from the first Trump administration.'
Xiaomi reached a settlement with the US government four months after the sanctions were imposed and had them lifted.
Xiaomi and the US government reach a settlement, Xiaomi is removed from the blacklist - GIGAZINE
Xiaomi Chairman Lei Jun said in an event broadcast in October 2024 that the company plans to increase its research and development budget from 24 billion yuan (about 500 billion yen) in 2024 to 30 billion yuan (about 630 billion yen) in 2025. Chairman Jun said that this huge amount of research and development budget will be invested in core technologies such as AI, OS, and semiconductors.
In addition, Xiaomi announced the ' Surge S1 ', a mid-range self-developed SoC for the Mi 5C announced in 2017, but due to competition from Qualcomm and MediaTek, the Surge S1 was not adopted in most smartphones. According to a report by Gizmochina , Xiaomi was developing the Surge S2, but due to production delays and technical obstacles, development of the Surge S2 was discontinued in 2020.
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