In the context of increasingly fierce competition in the global smartphone market, independent research and development of system-on-chips (SoCs) has become an important symbol to measure the core competitiveness of a technology company. Following Huawei, Xiaomi officially released its first self-developed SoC chip, XRING O1, on May 22, 2025, marking a key step in the field of chip research and development.
Ⅰ The history and strategic transformation of Xiaomi's self-developed chips
Xiaomi's chip research and development dates back to 2014, when Xiaomi established a wholly-owned subsidiary, Beijing Songuo Electronics, and launched the "surging" project. In 2017, the first self-developed chip The Surging S1 was launched, using the 28nm process, positioning the mid-to-high-end market, but due to the performance and market feedback were not as expected, the follow-up Surging S2 failed to be successfully launched. Since then, Xiaomi has adjusted its strategy and turned to research and development of "small chips" such as power management and image processing to accumulate technical experience.
In 2021, while Xiaomi decided to enter the field of smart cars, it restarted the "big chip" project and established Shanghai XRING Technology Co., Ltd. to focus on the research and development of high-end SoC chips. After more than four years of hard work, the XRING O1 will be released in May 2025, marking Xiaomi's leap from "small chiplet" to high-end SoC in the field of self-developed chips.
Ⅱ The technical specifications and performance of XRING O1
XRING O1 is manufactured using TSMC's second-generation 3nm process, integrating about 19 billion transistors with a chip area of about 109mm². The CPU architecture is a 10-core quad-cluster design, including 2 x X925 ultra-large cores (3.9 GHz), 4 x A725 large cores (3.4 GHz), 2 x A725 medium cores (1.9 GHz), and two A520 small cores (1.8 GHz). The GPU part uses Immortalis-G925 16-core graphics processor, which supports advanced graphics rendering technology. In addition, XRING O1 also integrates 6-core NPU and fourth-generation ISP, supporting advanced functions such as UWB.
According to the test data of Geekbench 6.1.0, the XRING O1 has a single-core score of 2709 and a multi-core score of 8125, and its performance is close to the level of Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. Although there is still a gap with Apple's A-series chips, it has taken a leading position in domestic chips.
Figure: Xiaomi mobile phone SoC chip XRING O1
Ⅲ Market positioning and application prospects
The XRING O1 will first be installed in high-end products such as the Xiaomi 15S Pro flagship phone and the Xiaomi Pad 7 Ultra, aiming to enhance Xiaomi's competitiveness in the high-end market. At the same time, Xiaomi plans to apply its self-developed chips to smart cars, wearable devices, smart homes and other fields to build a full-scene ecosystem and achieve in-depth collaboration between software and hardware.
Lu Weibing, President of Xiaomi Group, said on May 17, 2025 that XRING O1 will not only be used in mobile phones, but will also be applied to other products, reflecting Xiaomi's strategic layout in building an independent and controllable ecosystem.
Ⅳ Challenges and risks of self-developed chips
Although the release of the XRING O1 marks Xiaomi's important progress in chip research and development, it still faces many challenges:
1. Baseband integration problem: At present, XRING O1 adopts the design scheme of external baseband, and fails to realize the integration of baseband. The research and development of baseband chips involves complex communication protocols and a large number of patent barriers, and it is still difficult to achieve self-developed and integrated baseband in the short term.
2. Cost and scale effect: XRING O1's R&D investment has exceeded 13.5 billion yuan, and the initial shipment is expected to be controlled at the level of hundreds of thousands, which is difficult to form a scale effect, resulting in high unit costs and putting pressure on Xiaomi's financial performance.
3. Supply chain dependence: XRING O1 uses TSMC's 3nm process for foundry, limited by the current domestic wafer manufacturing capacity, Xiaomi still relies on overseas supply chains in terms of advanced processes, and there are certain geopolitical risks.
4. Market acceptance: As a new entrant, XRING O1 needs time and market validation to build consumer trust and brand awareness, and it may be difficult to have a significant impact on the existing chip supply pattern in the short term.
Ⅴ Significance to China's semiconductor industry
The release of the XRING O1 makes Xiaomi the second mobile phone terminal manufacturer in China after Huawei to achieve mass production and commercial use of flagship SoC chips. Although there is still a gap between China and Huawei in terms of technology maturity and ecosystem, Xiaomi's participation will help promote the diversified development of domestic chips and enhance the resilience of the industrial chain.
In addition, Xiaomi's chip R&D team has more than 2,500 people, and it plans to continue to invest at least 50 billion yuan in the next ten years, showing its long-term strategic layout in the chip field. This continuous investment and technology accumulation is expected to promote the overall progress of China's semiconductor industry in the future.
VI. Conclusion
The release of XRING O1 marks an important milestone on the road of Xiaomi's self-developed chips, reflecting its determination to transform into a "hard-core technology" enterprise. Despite many challenges, Xiaomi is expected to occupy a more important position in the future smart terminal market through continuous investment in technology and ecosystem building.
In the context of increasingly fierce global technology competition, Xiaomi's self-developed chip strategy is not only related to its own development, but also has a positive role in promoting the independent controllability and technological innovation of China's semiconductor industry.
