On May 15, Xiaomi founder Lei Jun announced via social media that the company will officially launch its first self-developed smartphone system-on-chip (SoC), the Xring O1, by the end of May. This marks a significant milestone in Xiaomi's long-standing efforts to develop its own core smartphone components.
According to Chinese tech media, including CNMO, ORIIC, and TechWeb, the Xring O1 is built on TSMC's advanced 4nm N4P process and features a "1+3+4" tri-cluster Arm architecture. The SoC reportedly matches the performance of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen1, with its GPU—based on Imagination Technologies' cores—said to outperform the Adreno 740.
Initial production is expected to range between 2 million and 3 million units, targeting Xiaomi's home market of China as well as Southeast Asia. The chip will power mid-range smartphones priced around CNY3,000 to CNY3,500 (approx. US$716 to US$834). If consumer response is favorable, shipments could grow to 5 million units by the fourth quarter of 2025.
The Xring O1 represents the culmination of a decade-long and often challenging journey in Xiaomi's chip development. The effort began in 2014 with the founding of Beijing Pineal Electronics, a wholly-owned Xiaomi subsidiary tasked with developing mobile processors. In 2017, Xiaomi released its first SoC, the Surge S1, manufactured using a 28nm process and used in the Mi 5C phone. However, the chip failed to gain traction in the competitive smartphone market.
Following setbacks—including reported issues with the development of the Surge S2—Xiaomi shifted focus to application-specific chips. It introduced the Surge C1 imaging chip and Surge P1 charging chip in 2021, followed by the Surge G1 battery management chip in 2022. The launch of the Xring O1 now signals a return to full-scale SoC development, reaffirming Xiaomi's long-term ambition to gain more control over its hardware ecosystem.
Article edited by Jack Wu
