Chinese smartphone and electric vehicle manufacturer Xiaomi announced on Thursday that it will launch an advanced mobile chip designed in-house, called XringO1, by the end of May. This initiative marks a new step in the group's strategy to equip its high-end devices with proprietary components.

The announcement was made by Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun on the Chinese social network Weibo. No other technical details have been officially released. According to a source close to the matter, the XringO1 chip is based on ARM architecture and was manufactured by Taiwanese foundry TSMC using an advanced 3-nanometer engraving process.

Xiaomi relaunched its mobile processor development efforts in 2021, after an initial attempt was halted due to costs deemed too high. In 2017, the group launched its first in-house SoC, the Pengpai S1, engraved in 28 nm and integrated into the Xiaomi 5C model. But by 2019, priority had been given to less complex components such as image sensors and power management circuits.

With this strong comeback in semiconductors, Xiaomi intends to compete with rivals such as Apple and Huawei, which have made custom chip design a strategic lever to strengthen their software and hardware ecosystems. Apple has been developing its own processors since 2010, while Huawei has relaunched its efforts despite US restrictions.

According to the source, Xiaomi plans to use the XringO1 chip in its high-end electronic devices, including future smartphones and tablets. At this stage, no commercial integration timeline has been specified.

Despite this breakthrough, Qualcomm remains the main supplier of processors for Xiaomi devices. The group's latest high-end model, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra launched earlier this year, is equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, designed to deliver cutting-edge performance in display and gaming applications. Qualcomm saw its revenue from China jump 46% to $17.8bn in fiscal year ended September 2024.

US restrictions on exports of advanced technology to China have limited access for some players to engraving processes below 7 nm, particularly for artificial intelligence chips. However, chips for smartphones remain largely unaffected for the time being.