Xiaomi is not slowing down on its in-house silicon ambitions. During a livestream briefing on May 16, 2026, Lu Weibing—Xiaomi Group Partner, President, and General Manager of the Smartphone Division—confirmed that the Xuanjie chip will see an iteration this year, dismissing swirling rumors and telling fans to expect something genuinely powerful.
“The Xuanjie chip will definitely be iterated this year,” Lu stated. “There are many rumors out there—don’t believe them. What I can say is that it will be a very strong chip, powering an excellent product.”
From One Million to the Next Generation
The announcement builds on solid momentum. At Xiaomi’s Investor Day in April, founder and CEO Lei Jun revealed that the Xuanjie O1 chip has already shipped over one million units—a significant milestone for a company that only recently entered the custom silicon race.
The Xuanjie O1, Xiaomi’s first self-developed smartphone SoC, marked the company’s break from total reliance on Qualcomm and MediaTek. Its successor now faces the tall order of proving that Xiaomi can not only design chips, but iterate on them rapidly enough to stay competitive.
Why This Matters
Xiaomi’s chip efforts sit at the intersection of two major trends in Chinese tech: supply chain independence and vertical integration. As geopolitical tensions continue to reshape the semiconductor landscape, Chinese handset makers are under pressure to develop domestic alternatives. Huawei’s Kirin line has shown what’s possible; Xiaomi now wants to prove it can do the same at scale.
An upgraded Xuanjie chip could also give Xiaomi more pricing flexibility. In the same livestream, Lu hinted that some domestic flagship phones may break the 10,000 yuan (~$1,400) barrier in the second half of this year—suggesting that premium positioning, powered by custom silicon, is very much on the table.
The Competitive Landscape
Xiaomi enters a crowded field. Huawei’s Kirin 9030S, found in the Pura 90 series, has demonstrated that Chinese-designed chips can compete at the flagship level. OPPO and vivo continue to invest in their own ISP and AI accelerators, even if full SoC efforts remain behind closed doors.
What sets Xiaomi apart is its ecosystem play. A Xuanjie chip could eventually find its way into not just phones, but tablets, wearables, and IoT devices—creating a unified hardware-software experience similar to what Apple has built with Silicon.
Lu’s promise of a “very strong” chip is deliberately vague, but the timing is telling. With the second half of 2026 approaching, expect the next Xuanjie to debut alongside a flagship device that Xiaomi hopes will turn heads—and justify the massive R&D investment.
Sources: IT之家, Xiaomi Investor Day disclosures