Xiaomi Launches 3nm Xring O1 Chip, Challenges Apple Silicon

Xiaomi has unveiled its custom 3nm chip, the Xring O1, signaling its ambition to compete with Apple and other major chipmakers by integrating advanced silicon into its devices, including the Xiaomi 15S Pro smartphone and the Tablet 7 Ultra. The Xring O1, built on the Arm compute platform, features the latest Armv9.2 Cortex CPU cluster and Immortalis GPUs, focusing on high performance, power efficiency, and AI capabilities, although it still lags Apple's latest chips in certain areas such as processor speed. Xiaomi plans to invest roughly $28 billion in research and development over the next five years, with a significant portion dedicated to advancing its chip technology. CEO Lei Jun emphasized Xiaomi's commitment to delivering high-quality, competitive technology with more affordable pricing compared to Apple, highlighting that the Xiaomi 15S Pro is substantially cheaper than the iPhone 16 Pro models. The chip and associated devices represent Xiaomi's broader strategy to expand beyond affordable smartphones into high-end technology sectors, including electric vehicles and intelligent home devices, aiming to restore brand prestige after recent setbacks. Despite admitting that Apple remains ahead, Xiaomi views its silicon development as a major milestone for its design team and an important step towards becoming a top-tier chipmaker.