Xiaomi

Report: Xiaomi following Google Tensor lead, making its own chipset for 2025 phones

Ben Schoon | Nov 26 2024 - 9:50 am PT

According to a new report, Xiaomi is planning to start producing its own mobile chipsets, taking a note from Google’s Tensor chips used in Pixel.

For the most part, Android smartphones typically run on either chips from Qualcomm or MediaTek, with Snapdragon chips from Qualcomm being primarily used in flagship devices. Samsung also uses some of its own Exynos chips in some regional releases and lower-end devices.

One of the big exceptions to this has been Google Tensor, the chip used in recent generations of Pixel smartphones starting with 2021’s Pixel 6 series. The chip’s four generations thus far have had roots in Samsung’s Exynos, but with a move to TSMC planned for 2025’s release, a fully custom design is also expected, and Google apparently won’t be alone in that.

Bloomberg reports that Xiaomi has plans to launch smartphones in 2025 that use a chip developed in-house, separate from Qualcomm and MediaTek. Production of the chip is said to start in 2025 and used the same year in Xiaomi devices.

Xiaomi Corp. is preparing a self-designed mobile processor for its upcoming smartphones in an effort to reduce its reliance on foreign suppliers Qualcomm Inc. and MediaTek Inc.

The processor may help Xiaomi be more self-sufficient and stand out in an Android market led by Qualcomm customers. Mass production of the chip designed in-house is expected to begin in 2025

It’s also mentioned that this effort would also be beneficial to Xiaomi’s goals in electric vehicles.

What remains unclear for now is how the chip might differ from Qualcomm’s offerings, as Xiaomi has been a close partner for the company, often being among the first if not the first to launch a smartphone with the latest Snapdragon chip. The recently-announced Xiaomi 15 series uses the Snapdragon 8 Elite.