On May 22, Xiaomi held the 15th anniversary strategic new product launch conference, at the conference, with the Xiaomi 15S The debut of Pro and YU7 two blockbuster new machines, the most exciting thing is this new chip called "Xuanjie O1". This chip not only represents Xiaomi's technological accumulation and breakthroughs over the years, but also marks Xiaomi's official entry into the ranks of the world's top chip designers.
In particular, it is worth mentioning that "Xuanjie O1" adopts the most advanced 3nm process technology, which makes Xiaomi the first in Chinese mainland and the fourth in the world to independently develop and design 3nm mobile phone chips. This step not only closely follows the international advanced level, but also fills the gap in Chinese mainland in this field.
Xiaomi's new milestone: "Xuanjie O1"
Xiaomi launched a super blockbuster product at its 15th anniversary strategic new product launch conference - Xuanjie O1 flagship processor. This processor is a masterpiece independently developed and designed by Xiaomi, and is powered by Xiaomi 15S The Pro is equipped with the first launch. Manufactured using the second-generation 3nm advanced process, it has 19 billion transistors, a chip area of only 109 square millimeters, and a laboratory score of more than 3 million, which is the top performance.
"Xuanjie O1" not only has strong performance, but also can take into account ultra-low power consumption. It uses a ten-core quad-cluster CPU architecture, including two Cortex-X925 dual ultra-large cores, and the peak performance is improved by 36%. In addition, it is equipped with a 16-core GPU, equipped with the latest Immortalis-G925, and supports GPU dynamic performance scheduling technology, which greatly reduces power consumption. This means that whether you're playing games or tackling complex tasks, the "Xuanjie O1" delivers consistent high performance.
Lei Jun said with emotion at the press conference that when Xiaomi started research and development 4 years ago, the goals set were very high, such as the requirements must be the top flagship processor, using the world's most advanced process, and even benchmarking Apple chips. "Our idea was simple, we wanted to give it a try and see if we had a chance to catch up." He said, "I'm still a little nervous about handing in my homework today, because we've been working for four or five years, and we're waiting for everyone's evaluation." ”
He also mentioned that for processors, it is not only about performance, but also about energy consumption. While Apple has always been the ceiling for energy performance, Xiaomi is very close. "Especially in terms of sustained high-performance performance in games, our four performance cores are on par with Apple."
Lei Jun's determination: invest at least 10 years and spend 50 billion!
On such an important day, it is not easy for the Xiaomi chip team to deliver the first big chip "Xuanjie O1" on time, and also release a mobile phone and tablet at the same time. Even the research and development of the baseband has made phased progress, which is really "very happy".
要知道，小米的芯片之路走得相当坎坷。
2014年9月，小米启动了“澎湃OS”项目，做了整整四年，但因为难度太大，中途暂停；后来转战做一些小芯片，积累经验；2021年初，小米下定决心重新杀回“大芯片”战场；到今天，这条路一走就是11年，几乎贯穿了小米创业史的大部分时间。
Lei Jun said with emotion: "In the past 11 years, there have been many difficulties, sweat, and unspeakable pain. How much investment does it take to hold on for 11 years? How much courage does it take to make this decision? You may ask: "It's so difficult to make chips, why does Xiaomi still have to do it?" ”
In fact, they themselves have asked this question for more than ten years. Lei Jun's answer is firm: "If Xiaomi wants to become a great hardcore technology company, chips are the peak we must climb." We can't get around this battle. "In other words, if you don't make chips, you won't have core competitiveness; If you don't make chips, you can only run behind others forever.
How hard is the chip? Lei Jun said three key words:
1. Long cycle and large investment
This round of reboot has taken 4 and a half years; The capital exceeds 13.5 billion yuan; R&D team of more than 2,500 people; This year's R&D budget alone is more than 6 billion yuan on chips. Such a scale ranks among the top three in domestic chip design companies, both in terms of number of people and investment.
2. The life cycle is short, and the big chip is iterated once a year, and it may become obsolete in the second year; If the sales volume is not enough, no matter how good the chip is, it will lose money; You have to sell tens of millions of units in a year or two to survive. This is also why in the past ten years, hundreds of chip companies have died around the world. Now, there are only three companies left that can make flagship SoCs with advanced processes: Apple, Qualcomm, and MediaTek. Xiaomi, is trying to break into this top club.
3. The pressure is high, and as a latecomer, it is certainly not perfect at first; will always be questioned, ridiculed, and even looked down upon; But Lei Jun said it well: "This world will not always be strong and strong, and latecomers will also have opportunities." "Lei Jun's determination: invest at least 10 years and spend 50 billion!
Since the restart of the chip plan 4 years ago, Xiaomi has been ready for a long-term battle: invest for at least 10 years, invest at least 50 billion yuan, and move forward step by step.
Goldman Sachs is optimistic about Xiaomi
First of all, Goldman Sachs mentioned in the latest research report that they expect Xiaomi to ship 170 million smartphones in 2025, which is lower than the consensus forecast of 181 million units, but they are optimistic about Xiaomi's performance in the Chinese market. In particular, Xiaomi is stealing market share from brands such as Apple and Honor.
According to Goldman Sachs:
In the first quarter of 2025, the global smartphone market grew by 1% year-on-year, while Xiaomi's global market share reached 14%. In the past 52 weeks ending May 11, Xiaomi has achieved year-over-year market share growth in the Chinese market for 47 weeks, which is better than OPPO , Apple, and Honor.
Goldman Sachs specifically pointed out that Xiaomi's self-developed Xuanjie O1 chip may become an important driver of its high-end strategy. Just as Apple's share of the global PC market increased by about 2 percentage points to 9% on average after Apple launched its self-developed chip in November 2020, Xiaomi is expected to improve the competitiveness of its high-end phones in a similar way.
Industry insiders believe that with the release of "Xuanjie O1", Xiaomi will become the fourth mobile phone brand in the world and the second in China with core self-developed chips after Apple, Samsung, and Huawei. Brokerage analysts commented that the release of "Xuanjie O1" marks a major breakthrough in the autonomy of Xiaomi's chip technology.
In addition to smartphones, Xiaomi's AIoT (Artificial Intelligence Internet of Things) business is also doing well. Goldman Sachs data shows that in the first quarter of 2023, Xiaomi's AIoT business revenue increased by about 50% year-on-year, far exceeding the industry average.
Major appliances: domestic sales of air conditioners, washing machines and refrigerators increased by 103%, 184% and 145% year-on-year respectively; Sales of TVs and water purifiers increased by 7% and 78%, respectively. Tablets: Global shipments increased 57% year-over-year to 3.1 million units, ranking third in both the global and Chinese markets.
Goldman Sachs expects that by 2027, the two most important AIoT segments, major appliances and tablets, will contribute about 40% of the sales and 50% gross profit of the AIoT business, up from the 30%/35% level in 2024.
Jingtai's view|From the perspective of investment, Xiaomi makes cores
For investors, Xiaomi's chip breakthrough is not only a technological victory, but also a signal: it is transforming from a "hardware manufacturer" to a "technology-driven enterprise". Although the initial investment is huge and the return cycle is long, if Xiaomi chips can be applied on a large scale in the next few years and gradually supplied to other manufacturers, then this business will become a new engine for its growth.
Moreover, this "independent research and development + ecological collaboration" method also allows Xiaomi to occupy a more advantageous position in the general trend of domestic substitution.
Although Goldman Sachs' forecast for Xiaomi's smartphone shipments in 2025 is slightly lower than the market consensus, Xiaomi's continued growth in the Chinese market and the strong performance of its AIoT business have undoubtedly brought more confidence to investors. In particular, the launch of self-developed chips not only enhances the competitiveness of Xiaomi's products, but also lays a solid foundation for the future high-end strategy.
