Xiaomi is one of China’s largest smartphone manufacturers, and is currently manufacturing not only smartphones, but all sorts of other smart gadgets, not to mention that they develop their very own SoC, and are also an MVNO since last year. Xiaomi might be interested in releasing their very own mobile SoC as well, we’ve seen tons of rumors in the last year or so suggesting that the company is working on such an SoC, and some additional info surfaced recently, read on.
A recent Xiaomi Max leak suggested that the phablet might ship with Xiaomi’s very own ‘Rifle’ processor, which is the first time we’ve heard of this SoC. Well, a new report surfaced in China, and this time around Business Korea is saying that the info comes from ‘industry sources’. Now, the report claims that Xiaomi will, indeed, release the ‘Rifle’ SoC, and that it will be unveiled next month. The SoC will be based on ARM’s standard core license, but the details have not been shared yet. Now, the sources say that this ‘Rifle’ SoC will be more powerful than the Snapdragon 810 which was released last year, but as already mentioned, the details are not available just yet. Xiaomi seems to be developing this SoC in order to reduce cost, as you all know, Xiaomi has to pay royalties when using processors from other companies, and this will surely help them save some cash, and maybe even further discount prices of their devices, who knows.
As you probably already know, Xiaomi’s direct competitor in China, Huawei, is manufacturing their very own SoC called Kirin. Huawei’s processors have come a long way over the years, and are currently amongst the most powerful ones out there. The company’s Kirin 955 SoC which fuels their new flagships is quite powerful, and even though we doubt Xiaomi’s offering will be as powerful, these are certainly good news. This processor will bring some more competition to the market, and we’ll see if Xiaomi plans to let other companies use the processor, or will they manufacture this chip only for their own purposes. Either way, stay tuned for more info.