Xiaomi has recently unveiled its highly anticipated mobile processor, the Xring O1, during an event in China. The company claims this in-house chip rivals Apple’s offerings while being more budget-friendly. Along with the Xring O1, Xiaomi also showcased the Xiaomi 15S Pro smartphone and the Xiaomi Pad 7 Ultra tablet, both of which are currently exclusive to the Chinese market.

According to Xiaomi’s CEO, Lei Jun, the Xring O1 outperforms Apple’s A18 Pro in various technical aspects, including gaming performance and heat management. While acknowledging Apple’s leading position in the market, Jun emphasized that the development of the Xring O1 demonstrates Xiaomi’s commitment to innovation rather than a direct challenge to Apple. In a significant move, Xiaomi plans to invest 200 billion yuan in research and development over the next five years, starting from 2026, with expectations of achieving a 30% revenue growth by 2025.

The Xring O1 processor is a 3nm 10-core chip featuring dual Cortex-X925 cores at 3.9GHz, four Cortex A725 cores at 3.4GHz, two additional Cortex A725 cores clocked at 1.9GHz, and two Cortex A520 cores at 1.8GHz. It also integrates a 16-core Immortalis-G925 GPU and a 6-core NPU, delivering 44 TOPS of AI computing power. The Xring O1 boasts impressive performance metrics, including 27.5% faster video exports, 51.3% quicker image exports, and 119.3 FPS in multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games.

However, it remains unclear what benchmarks these figures are being compared against. Xiaomi’s history with mobile processors includes the introduction of the Surge S1 in 2017, aimed at budget devices, whereas the Xring O1 targets high-end markets. Currently, about 40% of Xiaomi’s devices use processors from Qualcomm and MediaTek, but the introduction of the Xring O1 suggests that this reliance may decrease in the future.

However, the Xring O1 is unlikely to appear in the U.S. market, as Xiaomi does not currently sell its products there and has no major plans for launches. The geopolitical climate and previous controversies regarding design similarities with Apple further complicate its entry into the U.S. market. Overall, the competition in the chip sector is heating up, promising better offerings as companies like Qualcomm, MediaTek, and Apple continue to innovate.

Google’s upcoming Tensor chip is expected to add to this competitive landscape.