Following the global unveiling of the Xiaomi 17 Ultra, Xiaomi has announced a new roadmap for its homegrown XRING chipsets. For those unaware, the Xiaomi 15s Pro was the first Xiaomi smartphone featuring an XRING O1 chipset, and it was released back in May 2025. However, Xiaomi now says that we may see more custom smartphone processors from them each year.
Xiaomi XRING could expand soon
Speaking to CNBC, Xiaomi executive Lu Weibing revealed that the brand intends to release a new custom smartphone processor each year. This contradicts earlier remarks from Xiaomi Vice President Xu Fei, who previously suggested the silicon release cycle wouldn't be strictly annual.
However, the recent information does hold weight as Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun recently pledged around $6.9 billion toward custom chip development over the next decade. The next iteration of Xiaomi's silicon and the XRING O1's successor is slated to debut in China this year, with a global debut expected soon.
Beyond silicon, Xiaomi is also prepping a brand-new AI assistant for its global audience. Lu suggests that this AI rollout will coincide with the international launch of Xiaomi's electric vehicles, which are expected to hit European roads in 2027. This assistant will likely be powered by Google's Gemini models.
Xiaomi appears to have set a clear agenda for this year, i.e., launching a smartphone with an upgraded XRING processor, likely XRING O2, a new HyperOS version, and a new AI assistant.
While details about the processor are scarce, it will be interesting to see if Xiaomi sticks to the 3nm process like the XRING O1 or moves to the more efficient 2nm TSMC process. Previous XRING O2 leaks did suggest that Xiaomi will be sticking to a 3nm process and is developing its own 5G modem to go with it.
Considering the Xiaomi 15S Pro launched in China in May 2025, we expect the XRING O2-powered smartphone (Xiaomi 17S Pro?) to launch by the end of Q2 2026, so stay tuned.
