Xiaomi’s XRING 02 Not Expected To Put Any Pressure On Qualcomm or MediaTek, As The SoC’s Older 3nm lithography Means It Won’t Be Found In Any Flagships

The XRING 01 made a notable statement to all smartphone chipset players that Xiaomi was going to invade their market because the company’s 3nm N3E SoC was designed specifically for its top-end smartphones. Unfortunately, as Qualcomm, MediaTek, and Apple move to the 2nm process later this year for their chipsets, Xiaomi is reportedly taking a back seat with its XRING 02, sticking on TSMC’s older 3nm N3P node, suggesting that the in-house silicon won’t be powering the Chinese firm’s premium smartphones. There are a few reasons why Xiaomi would have chosen an older manufacturing process, which we’ve discussed below.

The XRING 02 could be limited to TSMC’s 3nm N3P technology due to high wafer costs, but rising RAM and NAND flash costs aren’t making it any easier

Xiaomi’s President has already acknowledged that due to rising storage costs, the company was forced to increase the price of its Redmi K90. Fortunately, the smartphone manufacturer has secured sufficient DRAM supply for the entirety of 2026, but the ongoing crisis means that consumers have to fork over more funds to purchase its upcoming models. According to Omdia, mobile DRAM and flash memory prices have risen by more than 70 percent and 100 percent, respectively, with smartphone Bill of Materials (BoM) estimated to increase by more than 25 percent.

Viewing the aforementioned situation, it is crystal clear that Xiaomi will have its hands full in keeping a lid on the price, but one way to reduce its expenditure tremendously is to take a step back regarding the manufacturing process of its upcoming XRING 02. Assuming Xiaomi were exclusively a chipset maker, it would want nothing more than to leverage TSMC’s latest and greatest 2nm process, like Apple, Qualcomm, and MediaTek have intended. However, since the company’s businesses also include selling mobile devices, it is required to make a few compromises.

DigiTimes’ latest claim that the XRING 02 will utilize the 3nm N3P node has been mentioned before, and the fact that Xiaomi has already filed the trademark displays its ambitions of expanding its in-house chipset portfolio. However, when it comes to putting pressure on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 lineup and MediaTek’s Dimensity 9600, the XRING 02 isn’t trading any blows because it will already be an entire generation behind the competition, meaning that the SoC will not be found in Xiaomi’s top-end smartphones, but likely a tier below this class.

However, perhaps the XRING 02 was never positioned to be a flagship competitor, and maybe Xiaomi had intended a different purpose for it. For instance, according to Weibo tipster Digital Chat Station, the chipset isn’t just being evaluated for smartphones and tablets, but also for automobiles, hinting that Xiaomi could form an entire ecosystem. If this means the Chinese firm will be a whole generation behind companies like Qualcomm and MediaTek, then that’s one compromise Xiaomi is willing to make.

News Source: DigiTimes

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