Xiaomi Launches New Advanced In-House Mobile Chip
Tech giant Xiaomi unveiled a new advanced in-house mobile chip on Thursday, a significant milestone for the company as Chinese firms shift resources towards home-grown technology against a bleak international trade backdrop.
With the XRING O1, it becomes only the second smartphone brand globally after Apple to mass produce its own 3-nanometre chips, among the most advanced on the market.
This despite being a latecomer to the chip industry, Xiaomi founder Lei Jun said at a launch event on Thursday, joking that the feat had been “harder than ascending to heaven”.
Xiaomi took early 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.
Lei said the journey to developing the XRING O1 had taken over a decade.
“How much hardship, how much sweat, how much untold pain have been involved in these 11 years? How much courage and determination did it take to make this decision?” he said.
The XRING O1 will first be deployed in Xiaomi’s new 15S Pro flagship smartphone and the Pad 7 Ultra tablet, which were also launched Thursday along with a preview of the firm’s first electric SUV.
