Rumors of Xiaomi developing its smartphone chip have been circulating for some time, and it appears the company has finally achieved this breakthrough.
According to a report from Chinese media outlet MyDrivers, Xiaomi has successfully completed the “tape-out” process for China’s first 3nm smartphone System-on-a-Chip (SoC). This announcement was made on BRTV, a Chinese state-owned television network, by the Chief Economist of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology.
A clip of that announcement was shared on X.
While the report confirms the chip is built on a 3nm process, it doesn’t offer specifics about the CPU, GPU, or the manufacturer, if it’s TSMC, Samsung, or another foundry.
However, reaching the “tape-out” stage signifies a crucial step in silicon design. This means Xiaomi has finalized the chip’s design and is ready to begin production. However, mass production may still be far away, meaning we will not see smartphone use anytime soon.
Once the chip is manufactured, likely by TSMC or Samsung, Xiaomi will need to conduct thorough testing. If the initial yield of functional chips is low, adjustments to the manufacturing process or chip design may be necessary.
It’s worth noting that Xiaomi has prior experience with in-house SoCs. The Mi 5C, released in 2017, featured the Pengpai (or Pinecone) S1, a 28nm, 8-core processor with a big-little architecture and a 2.2GHz maximum clock speed.
Although Xiaomi hasn’t released another smartphone SoC since then, the company has continued developing chips for specific functions. The Surge G, P, and C series chips focus on charging, battery management, and image signal processing, respectively. For example, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra utilizes the Surge P2 and G1 chips for enhanced charging and battery performance.
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