Qualcomm, Mediatek, and Samsung are popular chipmakers for processors found in smartphones, and it looks like Xiaomi is going to enter the race too. A report from Counterpoint Research states that Mediatek CEO Rick Tsai has commented on a supposedly ongoing partnership between ARM and Xiaomi!
The Mediatek CEO states “I can’t say whether they can succeed in the Xiaomi business”, which essentially confirms that ARM and Xiaomi are working under wraps on new processors dedicated to Xiaomi devices!
With this, Xiaomi wouldn’t have to rely on Mediatek or Qualcomm for processors. Instead, they could become like Samsung (who has Exynos) and release their phones with a Xiaomi SoC inside! This is quite exciting, and if everything works out, it would be a major development for Xiaomi.
I feel Xiaomi offers a lot of value on the table on many of their mid-range & flagship smartphones. With their processors, things could change drastically for future Xiaomi phones, gadgets, or the electric car.
Maybe, they will be able to provide even more value for money in their tech. These new ARM chips that Xiaomi is making with ARM are expected to be used in their smartphones first, provided that things work out.
Having custom Xiaomi processors could help them tailor & heavily optimize the experience on future devices!
The report also states that before this Oppo was also attempting to make its processors. Later, development was reportedly stopped in 2023 due to the smartphone market declining, and the project having issues. It looks like ARM will now work with Xiaomi to make them a smartphone chipset!
There is also speculation on who will manufacture the processors. Apple’s A-Series bionic chips are made by TSMC, and Tensor chips found on Google Pixel are made by Samsung.
For now, we don’t know when exactly will Xiaomi have completed the development of its ARM-based processors. In the report, the Senior Analyst at Counterpoint Research commented that chip design “is not an easy task”. We will update you if there are any developments with Xiaomi and ARM’s chip partnership.
What are your thoughts on Xiaomi making its own processors with ARM? Let us know in the comments below.
