Xiaomi is all set to launch its new in-house smartphone chip called the Xring O1 later this week. Ahead of the new chip’s launch, Xiaomi’s co-founder, Lei Jun, has announced that the company will invest nearly $7 billion to develop its in-house chips. The Chinese company appears to be emulating the approach of Apple, one of its biggest competitors in China.

Xiaomi has already invested around $1.8 billion in its in-house chips

Xiaomi’s co-founder, Lei Jun, has revealed that the company has already invested more than 13.5 billion yuan (around $1.8 billion) since 2021. The brand has plans to invest 6 billion yuan in research and development this year alone, as per Lei.

Furthermore, the company is planning to invest at least 50 billion yuan (approximately $6.9 billion) in developing its mobile chips over a decade to expand its semiconductor clout. The investment started from the plan set in 2021. Xiaomi’s semiconductor team now employs more than 2,500 people, Lei wrote in a post on Weibo.

So far, Xiaomi has depended on Qualcomm and MediaTek for the chips of its smartphones and tablets. However, the company now wants to decrease its dependence on other chip makers by developing its in-house silicon. Xiaomi’s beefy investment in mobile chips aligns with the Chinese President Xi Jinping’s priorities for China to match and even surpass the US in high-end tech, including semiconductors.

Xiaomi is developing the Xring O1 chip using 2nd-gen 3nm technology

Apart from revealing Xiaomi’s investment plans, Lei has also shared some details about the upcoming Xring O1 chip. The company has manufactured the chip using 2nd-gen 3-nanometer fabrication technology. Unfortunately, the co-founder hasn’t named the contract chipmaker Xiaomi is relying on for production.

Bloomberg reports that Xiaomi has not utilized the 3nm fabrication technology from China’s leading foundry, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), which remains limited to the more mature 7nm technology because of US export controls.

A Reuters report last week suggested that TSMC is manufacturing the Xring O1 or 01 chip using its 3-nanometer node. Xiaomi’s internal chip design unit has developed the chip using ARM’s architecture. This means the new Xiaomi chip could be in the same ranks as the Snapdragon 8 series chips, Dimensity 9400, and even Apple’s A19 series chips in terms of process node.

That said, Xiaomi is all set to unveil the Xring O1 processor at an event in China on May 22. Rumors indicate that the Xiaomi 15S Pro will be one of the first devices to feature this new in-house Xiaomi SoC later this year. Since the launch is just around the corner, we’ll find out more in a matter of days, so stay tuned for regular updates.

This article first appeared on Android Headlines

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