Xiaomi May Suspend Semiconductor Development

Chinese electronics giant Xiaomi may suspend their in-house development of semiconductors, according to rumors reported by Chinese media. Xiaomi began developing their own semiconductors as early as 2017, but two years after the initiative began it seems it may have run its course.

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Following R&D expenditure estimated to be around 1 billion yuan, the Beijing-based electronics titan’s first S1 processor, developed in collaboration with Beijing Pinecone Electronics, failed to enamor consumers. High power consumption and heat output eventually led to the failure of the Xiaomi 5C smartphone, the first device equipped with the proprietary semiconductor technology. The Surge S1 ended up losing out to competition, including Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 825 and MediaTek’s P20 and P10.

Xiaomi reportedly then began developing their next generation S2 chip, before recent rumors began to circulate that the company would abandon that plan. China’s semiconductor industry is led by players inlcuding Huawei’s HiSilicon and Tsinghua Unigroup’s Ziguan Group.