It looks like Xiaomi may soon start making its own processors. According to a latest report from the Wall Street Journal, the Chinese smartphone maker is planning to move away from Qualcomm processors as its primary chip provider.
With this move, Xiaomi will join other smartphone majors like Apple, Samsung and Huawei who also make their own chips. The report citing sources said, Xiaomi is planning to release its new processor which will is codenamed Pinecone, within a month. Pinecone could be the processor used in the Xiaomi Mi 6, which is expected to be released at some point in March. At present, Xiaomi uses Qualcomm’s processors for its smartphones and with its own processors it plans to reduce the reliance on Qualcomm’s chips. The chip from Xiaomi is said to be the product of Beijing Pinecone Electronics, a company tied to Xiaomi that resulted from a $15 million technology buy from Datang subsidiary Leadcore Technology Ltd.
Xiaomi’s market share took a major nosedive last year in China as Oppo, Vivo and Huawei grabbed the top three spots in the Chinese smartphone market.