Xiaomi eyes in-house chips for phones
Print Edition
CHINA’S most valuable startup Xiaomi is aiming to use smartphone processor chips designed in-house in some of its lower-priced handsets in the second half of this year, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said.
The move would mark the first time that Xiaomi has used chips designed in-house, something analysts have said could put pressure on industry leaders such as Qualcomm and MediaTek, which supply the company.
The in-house smartphone application processor chips are designed for Xiaomi’s mid- to low-priced smartphone model RedMi Note series, but it is unclear how many Xiaomi is planning to make this year, said the source, who declined to be named because the information is not public.
The move comes as China ploughs billions of dollars into home-grown chip companies in a bid to end the country’s reliance on foreign semiconductors.
Xiaomi, the world’s fifth-largest smartphone vendor, has hired 200-300 people to work on smartphone chip design in cities including Shanghai, Nanjing and Beijing, the source said.
“Xiaomi is copying the model of designing processor chips in-house from Apple, Samsung and Huawei,” the source said, referring to the only three vendors who have the ability to put self-designed smartphone processor chips into commercial use at the moment.
Xiaomi has long been keen on making in-house chips.
Chinese chip designer Leadcore Technology Ltd, a subsidiary of state-backed Datang Telecom, in 2014 signed an agreement with privately owned Beijing Pinecone Electronics to jointly design 4G multiple-mode chips, a stock exchange filing showed. Beijing Pinecone Electronics is controlled by Xiaomi, the source and industry analysts said.
Analysts said Chinese smartphone vendors’ ambitions to design smartphone chips have become one of their major strategies to maintain market share and margins amid competition.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
