Xiaomi is preparing the biggest changes ever to its mid-range phones

Xiaomi’s latest idea is one of the biggest changes in its history in the production of smartphones. The company, seeing the strategy of Google, Huawei and Samsung, would think about design your own processor to integrate it into the mid-range. This move, which he had already tried in the past with the Surge S1, is risky and difficult, so he would have to find an ally to avoid starting from scratch.

According to the account GSMA Arena, Xiaomi Could Merge With Unisoc create its own 5G processor. The details of the alliance are unknown, although the report mentions the possibility that TSMC is the company responsible. make a 4nm chip with its N4P process. In addition, 5G bandwidth will be provided by Unisoc’s proprietary modem.

It is no coincidence that in the title we are talking about the mid-price segment. According to the cited source, the Xiaomi processor can offer power is similar to that of Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1the chip that was the king of the market back in 2021 and will now deliver performance on par with mid-range devices.

Finally, the information speaks about launch in early 2025so this project would not be so far from reality. On which phones it will debut, one can only guess, although it will not appear with the next Redmi Note 14. In fact, as has happened in the past, Xiaomi may launch a specific series with the main asset of its own chip.

Is it a good idea for Xiaomi to create its own processor?

This is a very difficult question, as it is currently impossible to determine. what investments does Xiaomi allocateis the cooperation with Unisoc good enough or how are they going to approach the release of their own processor.

In these cases it is impossible not to pull out the newspaper archive, which tells us that Xiaomi already tried this same project a few years ago.. The result was the Surge S1, a custom chip aimed at the mid-range that was, to put it simply, a flop. It launched on a single device, sold a few units, and the company put everything under the carpet.

There are reasons to think that things may be different now, mainly because Xiaomi is a much more mature company.Now giants like Samsung and Google have tried their luck, and while they are still riding the wave, the results have not fully convinced the market.

Manufacturing processors is a complex business, so trying to match your performance or efficiency with brands that have been exclusively focused on this market for years is challenging, to say the least. First of all, when you aliases for the least interesting brand of the three currently supplying you with crisps.

Xiaomi currently purchases processors from Qualcomm, MediaTek and Unisocwith the latter being the least valued by consumers, and the company focusing mainly on producing low-end chips for very modest hardware, such as Android TVs or extremely cheap mobile phones.

To all this confusion it is necessary to add global chip regulationswhich could undermine the idea that Xiaomi’s own processor can cross China’s borders in an easy and profitable way.

This is undoubtedly an interesting project, but in which Xiaomi will have to give extra if you want it not to be forgotten as it happened in the past.