Chinese smartphone company Xiaomi be like, “Hold my beer,” as they develop their very own chip called Xring O1. The CEO, Lei Jun, is all about taking on Apple’s iPhone with this new chip and a more affordable phone. Xiaomi is really playing the pricing game here, with their latest Xiaomi 15S Pro starting at 5,499 yuan ($764) — eligible for a state-subsidized discount, making it way cheaper than Apple’s fanciest models.
Lei Jun claims that the Xring O1 chip ain’t messing around, beating Apple’s A18 Pro in several tech areas, like running games with less heat. However, CNBC hasn’t checked these claims independently yet. But hey, Lei’s out here dropping hints about Xiaomi spending a whopping 200 billion yuan on research and development in the next five years, starting in 2026. And get this, he’s predicting a 30% revenue growth this year. Not really sure why this matters, but Lei did mention that the Xring O1 chip has been in mass production, and Xiaomi plans to invest at least 50 billion yuan ($6.9 billion) in chip development over the next decade.
Xiaomi isn’t stopping at just smartphones and chips, though. They’re diving into the electric car game too. Last spring, they launched their first electric car, the SU7 sedan, priced way below Tesla’s Model 3 at the time. And now, they’re gearing up to release their first SUV, the YU7, in July. Lei spilled the beans that this bad boy is gonna be decked out with Qualcomm Snapdragon and Nvidia Thor chips. Plus, the standard version will come with advanced driver assist and a driving range of 835 km. Talk about leveling up the game! Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like Xiaomi is really making moves in the tech world, from smartphones to electric cars. Let’s see where this wild ride takes them next.
