According to the information reported by Wccftech and cited by the leakster Yogesh brar, Xiaomi prepares to launch its first SoC (System on Chip) for mobile phones in the first half of 2025. This chip, developed in-house, should be based on N4P process technology And its performance could be equivalent to that of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen1. However, some tipsters suggest that the performance could come close to that of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.
Xiaomi will launch its first 5G chip next year (LEAK)
Despite US-imposed restrictions on advanced process manufacturing capacity, Chinese chip makers not included in the “Entity List” can still use advanced process technologies through foreign foundries such as TSMC and Samsung. If you use less advanced process technologies, two or three generations behind the latest ones, the impact of the restrictions should be minimal.
According to TSMC's plans, mass production of the more advanced 2nm process will begin in the second half of 2025. At that point, the N4P (4nm) process will be about three generations behind 2nm (with N3E and N3P in between). Therefore, it is plausible that Xiaomi will use TSMC's N4P foundry for its self-developed SoC, scheduled for launch in 2025.
In July, rumors spread that the SoC designed by Xiaomi's chip design subsidiary Xuanjie had already been tape-out. This chip would be based on a 4nm/5nm process, and the CPU configuration would include one Arm Cortex-X3 super core, three Cortex-A715 medium cores, and four Cortex-A510 small cores, with an IMG CXT 48-1536 Imagination GPU. However, these rumors have not been further confirmed.
As for the 5G baseband chip solution, which determines the communication capability, Xiaomi may encounter difficulties in self-development due to technical complexities and patent barriers. Even Apple, after four or five years, has not yet completely resolved these problems. Therefore, it is likely that Xiaomi will choose to use the 5G baseband chip from MediaTek or Unisoc.
Although MediaTek's 5G baseband chip may offer better overall performance, considering supply chain security, cost control, and Zeng Xuezhong's experience as CEO of Unigroup Spreadtrum, the choice to use Unigroup Spreadtrum's 5G baseband chip seems slightly more likely.
From a market positioning point of view, if the N4P process is adopted and the performance reaches the level of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen1/Gen2, the chip could be used in Xiaomi/Redmi's mid-to-high range models. Xiaomi's flagship/sub-flagship models will inevitably continue to use Qualcomm and MediaTek, but Redmi's sub-flagships may adopt self-developed chips.
