(By Yang Yiting, Edited by Lü Dong)
On May 19th local time, according to a report from U.S. media CNBC, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon said that Xiaomi's latest move in developing its own chips is not expected to affect its business.
Amon stated: "We remain a strategic chip supplier for Xiaomi. Most importantly, I believe that Qualcomm Snapdragon chips have been used in Xiaomi flagship products and will continue to be used in Xiaomi flagship products."
Hitherto, Qualcomm has always been the primary supplier of SoCs (System on Chip) for Xiaomi's flagship smartphones, providing core support with its Snapdragon series semiconductors.
Recently, Xiaomi officially announced its self-developed 3nm flagship smartphone SoC chip, Xuanhuan O1, which is one of the most advanced processes in the market. The Apple A18 Pro chip built into the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max smartphones is also manufactured using the same process.
Considering cost and process difficulty, very few smartphone companies can independently design SoCs globally. Apple, Samsung, and Huawei are among the few companies that have launched their own chips. Many other suppliers rely on products from companies like Qualcomm and MediaTek. However, one major advantage of independently designing chips is the ability to more tightly integrate hardware and software, thereby offering an experience different from competitors.
On May 19th, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun posted on Weibo that from the inception of the Xuanhuan project, high goals were set: the latest process technology, flagship-level transistor scale, top-tier performance and efficiency; at least ten years of investment, and at least 50 billion yuan. He revealed that after more than four years, by the end of April this year, cumulative research and development investments for Xuanhuan had exceeded 13.5 billion RMB. Currently, the research and development team has exceeded 2,500 people, and this year's expected research and development investment will exceed 6 billion yuan. "I believe that in terms of research and development investment and team size within China's domestic semiconductor design field, this scale ranks among the top three in the industry."
Xiaomi spokesperson confirmed that the 50 billion yuan investment will begin in 2025.
Xiaomi is expected to release new smartphones, tablets, and electric vehicles on May 22nd, unveiling Xuanwu O1 — a system-level chip that will be mounted in Xiaomi's upcoming smartphones.
On May 20th, Lei Jun stated that Xiaomi Xuanhuan O1, Xiaomi's independently developed and designed 3nm flagship chip, has begun mass production. Two flagships equipped with Xiaomi Xuanhuan O1 will be released simultaneously: the high-end flagship smartphone Xiaomi 15s Pro and the ultra-high-end OLED tablet Xiaomi Tablet 7 Ultra.
Xuanwu O1 is not Xiaomi's first SoC. As early as 2017, Xiaomi released the Surge S1. Lei Jun stated that due to various reasons and setbacks, SoC development was once suspended. Xiaomi has also launched other types of semiconductors, such as those for enhancing management performance or imaging performance, but Xuanwu O1 will mark Xiaomi's return to core components for smartphones.
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Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7506354380589826570/
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