Xiaomi mise sur le long terme avec un investissement de 7 milliards de dollars dans les puces, évitant la course aux lancements annuels d’Apple

Xiaomi parie gros sur l'autonomie technologique

Le géant chinois injecte 7 milliards de dollars dans le développement de semi-conducteurs, adoptant une stratégie radicalement différente de celle d'Apple. Plutôt que de suivre le rythme effréné des lancements annuels, Xiaomi privilégie les investissements durables.

Une approche industrielle contrariant Wall Street

La stratégie à long terme de Xiaomi contraste vivement avec la mentalité trimestrielle des marchés financiers. Les investisseurs en chips - les puces, pas les cryptos - devront patienter pour voir les retours, ce qui n'empêche pas certains analystes de grincer des dents devant ce calendrier peu conventionnel.

Le jeu de patience qui pourrait payer

En évitant la course à l'innovation superficielle, Xiaomi mise sur la profondeur technologique. Un pari risqué dans un secteur obsédé par les résultats immédiats, mais qui pourrait positionner l'entreprise comme un acteur sérieux face aux géants américains et coréens.

Xiaomi links chip development to real-world performance

Xiaomi plans to ship 1 million XRing 01 units, but Xu said that’s far from the break-even point. She laid it out clearly: “We probably need to have ten years patience for the SoC to finally break even.”

For the numbers to make sense, Xiaomi would need to push 10 million units per chip release. That’s the minimum for the chip business to stop bleeding money. Until then, it’s all about getting the product right.

“We just need to make sure the experience is good enough, the performance is good enough,” Xu said. That means no rushing, no fluff. Just results. The company has already committed 50 billion yuan, roughly $7 billion—for chip development over the next ten years.

And they’re not doing it just for bragging rights. This is about building the backbone of an ecosystem, not a one-hit wonder.

Xiaomi’s chips are being designed to work hand-in-hand with HyperOS, its own Android-based operating system, and HyperAI, a package of artificial intelligence features developed in-house.

That combo is where the company sees real control: one chip powering one tightly integrated ecosystem, just like Apple and Google. Neil Shah, a partner at Counterpoint Research, told CNBC that Xiaomi is building vertical expertise, aiming to create a seamless experience across its tech products.

But don’t think Xiaomi is cutting out its old partners. Xu made it clear that Qualcomm and MediaTek are still part of the equation. “For Qualcomm, MediaTek, they are super, extremely good partners. We’ve been working them for 15 years, so we will continue this path,” she said.

Even the new Xiaomi 17, launched this week, runs on Qualcomm’s latest chip. So no, the company isn’t ditching American or Taiwanese silicon just yet.

Xu said they’ll continue using chips from both companies while also testing out their own. “We are going with two solutions at the same time,” she said. It’s not one or the other—it’s both. She added, “We made it very clear to our partners: don’t be too worried at all.”

KEY Difference Wire: the secret tool crypto projects use to get guaranteed media coverage