Agency. Chinese tech giant Xiaomi will invest 50 billion yuan ($6.9 billion) to develop high-end smartphone chips.
Xiaomi, which sells products ranging from smartphones to vacuum cleaners and electric vehicles, is one of China’s most prominent consumer-targeted electronic firms.
As the founder celebrates the 15th anniversary of its founding, founder Lei Jun said on social media, “Building Chips is a new path for Xiaomi to work embedded in cutting-edge technology so we will definitely make every effort for a new start to its production.” ”
Following Xiaomi’s ambition to build a semiconductor, the firm has developed plans to invest “at least 10 years and 50 billion yuan”.
Xiaomi took an initial step in semiconductors for smartphones in 2017 with the production of the company’s first internal chip Surge S1, but technical and financial constraints forced the group to halt the chip’s production and since then it has refocused on electric vehicles, among other things.
“This is not our ‘dark history’. This is the way we have travelled,” Lei wrote on Monday. Xiaomi’s chip development program will fund 13 percent of research and development funds for a team of more than 2,500 employees from 2021. Billionaire entrepreneur Lei said that he has received 5 billion yuan.
The announcement comes as both China and the United States seek to ensure access to the most advanced areas. “Xiaomi has always dreamed of ‘chip production’,” Lei wrote, “I sincerely request everyone to give us more time and patience to support our continued exploration along this path.” ‘
China is taking initiatives to develop its own chips with the aim of freeing many Chinese firms from their dependence on foreign suppliers.
In 2023, Xiaomi and its competitor Huawei unveiled a high-performance smartphone equipped with chips that experts said would be impossible to produce without foreign technologies, raising questions about the effectiveness of U.S. sanctions.
“The move could lead to the emergence of new champions capable of competing with American companies like Qualcomm,” Pascal Viaud, CEO of consulting firm Ubik, told AFP. Beijing has also put pressure on companies to reduce their dependence on foreign technology.
Last month, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for “self-reliance” in the region.
प्रतिक्रिया दिनुहोस्