What if Xiaomi in turn freed itself from Qualcomm and MediaTek, the two giants behind the vast majority of smartphone chips. While Google and Samsung have been working on this for years, respectively with their Tensor G and Exynos chips, Xiaomi would be tempted to create its own SoCs (System on chip).
The information comes to us from the very serious Bloombergwhich claims that Xiaomi would launch mass production of its in-house chips from the beginning of 2025. The newspaper is based on sources “familiar with the matter” who wished to remain anonymous.
A rise in power?
For half a decade, by settling in third place in sales almost every year, the Chinese brand has managed to establish itself as the spoilsport in the Samsung and Apple duopoly which presides over the smartphone market.
The company also launched with some success into electric cars with its SU7 and marketed its first folding smartphone on a global scale, the Xiaomi MIX Flip. The brand with the orange logo is also very invested in the home automation market.
And the common point between all its branches is none other than the integration of chips. This news, if it were to be confirmed, would take on its full meaning in the strategy of the Chinese giant.
As for whether Xiaomi will succeed, it is difficult to formulate an answer at this stage, but we can look at the long list of players who have thrown in the towel on the subject: Intel, Nvidia, Oppo. Even Samsung is struggling to convince with its Exynos chips, which it is content to integrate into its own terminals.
Xiaomi plans to increase its Research and Development budget by nearly 6 billion yuan in 2025, or nearly 800 million euros, for a total of 30 billion yuan (3.9 billion euros). For comparison, Qualcomm, which exclusively markets chips, has spent nearly $8.4 billion on research and development in 2024.
In search of autonomy
The news also comes in the middle of a very important standoff between the United States and China on the issue of semiconductors. Xiaomi will have to find a partner to produce its chips, while TSMC, the market leader, is increasingly being pushed by American authorities to move away from China.
At the same time, Chinese authorities are pushing their economic champions to reduce their dependence on foreign technologies.
An injunction undoubtedly partly inspired by the setbacks of a certain Huawei, shunned by the Western market because of technologically outdated chips and an OS too dependent on Google. The former world number 2 has just launched its own operating system, HarmonyOS NEXT, which aims to compete with Android and iOS.
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