What you need to know
- Xiaomi and Qualcomm have extended their partnership for another 15 years, building on a collaboration that began in 2011.
- This makes Xiaomi continue to feature Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 series in its flagship smartphones.
- The collaboration extends beyond smartphones, as it also comprises a wider range of Xiaomi’s product ecosystem, such as AR/VR glasses, wearables, tablets, smart home devices, and electric vehicles.
Xiaomi has always been a frontier when it comes to adopting Qualcomm’s latest and greatest chips across its products. The partnership is further expanding as both companies have announced a multi-year agreement.
Similar to every year, Xiaomi will again be one of the first to adopt the next-generation flagship Snapdragon 8 series for its premium smartphones later this year — both for China and global markets, as both brands announced in a shared press release.
This comes as both companies extend their collaboration for the next 15 years, and Xiaomi’s smartphones will be launching premium smartphones by Snapdragon 8 series for multiple generations, with “volume increasing each year of the agreement.”
“Qualcomm Technologies has always been one of Xiaomi’s most trusted and vital partners, supporting our journey from a startup to a global technology leader. We look forward to continuing the next 15 years of our collaboration and leveraging Qualcomm Technologies’ cutting-edge Snapdragon® platforms and technologies to deliver even more innovative and high-quality products to our customers worldwide,” said Lei Jun, CEO of Xiaomi.
Going forward, Xiaomi and the chipset maker will work in collaboration to launch not just smartphones but also AR/VR glasses, wearables, tablets, and several others.
“We value the relationship we have built resulting from 15 years of close collaboration and are excited to continue this journey for many years to come, with Snapdragon platforms powering Xiaomi’s premium smartphones. We look forward to expanding our work together in automotive, smart home products, wearables, AR/VR glasses, tablets, and more, ” said Cristiano Amon, president and CEO of Qualcomm.
For the unaware, Xiaomi first partnered with Qualcomm back in 2011, almost 15 years ago with the launch of its Mi 1. And for the past decade, every flagship from Xiaomi has been comprising the premium Qualcomm chipset, including the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, which was one of the first handset to feature the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset. The trend will be continuing for the next 15 years as well.
Xiaomi has incorporated Qualcomm platforms like the Snapdragon Cockpit platform for its SU7 — the first vehicle launched by the company in 2023. The vehicle also includes Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Auto 5G Modem-RF solution for better processing and precise positioning.
Furthermore, Xiaomi’s smart home products have been incorporating the chipset maker’s Wi-Fi solutions, including the latest Wi-Fi standards. Wearables from the company, like the Xiaomi Buds 5 Pro, are also powered by Snapdragon S7 and S7 Plus Gen 1 sound platforms, while the Watch 2 Pro is equipped with Snapdragon W5 Plus Gen 1 wearable platform.
