What you need to know
- A report claims Xiaomi is moving away from Qualcomm and MediaTek when it comes to its phone chips.
- As a result, the Chinese OEM may put its investments into creating phone chips in-house for its 2025 series.
- Google started down a similar path as it was reportedly moving away from Samsung's Semiconductors to create its own chip before leaning on TSMC for production.
New murmurings state Xiaomi is interested in dropping outside creators for its smartphone chip in 2025.
According to a report by Bloomberg, the Chinese OEM is supposedly pursuing a future where it develops its SoCs in-house for its devices. The publication cites those close to the mater in saying Xiaomi could begin "mass production" of its personalized chipset in 2025.
The report highlights Xiaomi's close relationship with Qualcomm; however, this move to develop its own chip could help Xiaomi become "self-sufficient."
The company is reportedly interested in "reducing" its reliance on outside chip suppliers like Qualcomm and MediaTek. In working with Qualcomm, the publication states Xiaomi deployed certain additions on top of its chip like extra power management capabilities and "graphic enhancements."
However, branching out and developing a chip in-house would give Xiaomi the tools and leeway to create an SoC to its taste. Additionally, it seems this was expected of Xiaomi. The publication highlights a comment made by the company's Chairman and CEO Lei Jun in October, which involved Xiaomi's planned 2025 investment of 30 billion yuan (~$4.1 billion).
Lei Jun stated this money would be put forth toward the development of chips, as well as OS improvements and AI. Xiaomi fueled its 14T Pro with loads of AI software — even some backed by Google — but it looks interested in evolving that side of its software.
Another report by DigiTimes suggests Xiaomi's chip will be based on the 3nm process (via WCCFTech). The Chinese publication also (allegedly) confirmed that Xiaomi will launch its custom SoC for its phones next year, doubling down on what we've heard from Bloomberg.
Creating a custom chip would give an OEM everything it needs to develop the right chip for its phone — just like Google. It was reported that the OEM was pursuing the idea of parting ways with Samsung's Semiconductors in favor of TSMC. This process was reportedly going to take a couple of years before consumers would see its affects in the next-generation of Pixels.
The project was originally supposed to start with project "Redondo," but difficulties caused it to crumble. What resulted was a slightly stronger Tensor G4. However, the true upgrade is expected to be the Tensor G4, codenamed "Laguna."
A Taiwanese report claimed Google started testing its Tensor G5 chip ahead of its TSMC switch in January. It was then followed up by reports that said Google finished designing its (expected) 3nm process chip in July, which means it has the greenlight to kick start its production.
The publication alludes to the possibility of Xiaomi leaning on TSMC for the production of its chip. The Taiwanese company is involved in its own issues at the moment. TSMC reportedly had several of its parts find their way into Huawei's Ascend 910B AI accelerator, which is an act the U.S. government forbade them from doing. Despite TSMC not knowing — and reporting what happened itself — there's a chance the U.S. could instruct companies within its boundaries to avoid contact with the Taiwanese OEM.
