The journey of developing its first custom chipset started with the Surge S1, which Xiaomi debuted in the Mi 5c around seven years ago. A Surge S2 never materialized, likely because of the Herculean task of developing an in-house silicon. Fortunately, the Chinese firm’s determination never wavered, and according to the latest rumor, the company has not just resumed working on a custom solution but has successfully completed the tape-out of its first 3nm SoC. However, there could be various obstacles that impede Xiaomi’s progress, which we will discuss below.
Being a firm of Chinese origin, it is unclear if the path towards mass producing a custom 3nm chip would result in trade sanctions on Xiaomi
The rumor was published on MyDrivers, with our acquaintance @faridofanani96 also spotting the information that talked about Xiaomi’s alleged milestone. The news was made public by Beijing Satellite TV, when Tang Jianguo, Chief Economist of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, announced that a successful tape-out on the 3nm process had been achieved. Interestingly, the individual refers to this event as a historical one for China, which can cause problems for Xiaomi down the road.
For instance, companies like Huawei have been barred from conducting business with TSMC or Samsung thanks to the U.S. trade sanctions, as this prevents Chinese entities from competing with their economic rivals on an equal playing field. If Xiaomi has successfully reached the tape-out status for its 3nm chipset, it potentially means that other Chinese firms, including Huawei, can take advantage of this silicon to use in their devices, giving them an edge against the competition. For those who do not know, ‘tape-out’ is the final stage of the design process of any integrated circuit before it is sent for mass production.
On this occasion, it is possible that Xiaomi will launch the 3nm chipset sometime next year, but there are no updates on whether it will rely on TSMC’s N3E process or the more advanced N3P node. Also, there is no information regarding the chipset’s CPU cluster, GPU, the use of ARM designs, or a custom one. Back in August, we reported that Xiaomi was rumored to launch a custom SoC in H1 2025, which would be mass produced on TSMC’s N4P process and would flaunt performance equivalent to Qualcomm’s older Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. With two very opposing rumors doing the rounds, we should treat this rumor with a pinch of salt.
News Source: MyDrivers
About the author: Omar Sohail is a reporter and analyst for Wccftech's mobile section, specializing in the technology and business of the mobile industry. His expertise lies in the intricate hardware supply chain, covering developments in semiconductor manufacturing, chip lithography, and camera sensor technology.
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