Rumours spread that Xiaomi are in talks to acquire Chinese semiconductor maker


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Xiaomi already have their own phones, tablets, TV’s, wearables, UI, and clothes line, so what else could they add to their line up? How about their own chipset?

Smartphone makers around the world are limited to working with just a few manufactures for their SoC supply. The most popular being Mediatek and Qualcomm, with Samsung also supplying a few brands too.

Having to rely on a third-party for it’s processors isn’t always the best way to produce cost-effective and well optimised products. Apple learned this long ago and has custom processors made, and Huawei also build their own chips for some models.

Xiaomi are now also rumoured to be headed down this train of thought to and are believed to be in talks with Leadcore Tecnology in China to buy 51% of the company and assume control. Leadcore are the 6th largest manufacturer of semiconductors in China and an easy purchase for a brand the size Xiaomi.

With their own custom processors we could see better MIUI optimizations ,and possibly lower prices from Xiaomi products powered by a Mi SoC, but we will have to wait sometime before this happens.

If the rumours are true and the deal is done then the first Mi powered products will probably be wearable’s and smartphone home products.

[ GizChina.it ]
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7 Comments

  1. Rob
    October 31, 2014

    Have to say I’ve never heard of them, but this is a deal that is for the long term. Will probably take a few years to develop and manufacture a high end chip suitable for their phones/tablets but could serve them well in years to come. All in all it makes good financial sense for Xiaomi.

  2. Anagh Ceon
    October 31, 2014

    xiaomi please buy mediatek

    • November 2, 2014

      I guess you will see first Mediatek buying MI than the other way around

  3. Mike Chen
    October 31, 2014

    buy Qualcomm not mediatek

    • David Košič
      November 2, 2014

      they could never afford them

    • balcobomber25
      November 2, 2014

      You do realize Qualcom is about ten times the size of Xioami? That would be like saying Gizchina should buy Google.

  4. The Calm Critic
    November 2, 2014

    They got some Cortex A9 and A7 stuff on fairly dated 40 and 28nm build processes, is Xiaomi sure about this? Cheap or not they’d wanna either stay on the or ahead the curve not behind. Xiaomi got the R&D muscle to push this agenda in?