Most recently, Xiaomi introduced its proprietary Xring O1 processor for mobile devices, which showed top-end performance and forced Qualcomm and MediaTek to seriously think about their future, and other smartphone manufacturers to create their own chips.
However, the American authorities, as has happened more than once (let’s recall the sad story of Huawei), saw this as a serious threat to the country’s security, although the US leadership currently has no formal reasons to impose any sanctions on Xiaomi.
However, this did not stop them, and the access of Chinese companies to advanced semiconductor product design technologies was suddenly and unreasonably restricted from the American side.
According to the network informant Digital Chat Station, access was blocked to the EDA (Electronic Design Automation) hardware and software, which make it possible to automate the design process of next-generation chips based on GAAFET transistors.
As a reminder, the current 3-nanometer technology standards from TSMC imply the use of the previous FinFET transistor technology, and the transition to GAAFET is required for 2-nm and thinner processes.
That is, Xiaomi, like other Chinese manufacturers, without access to EDA systems, will not be able to create chips for 2nm and the following technological processes, and they will “get stuck” at around 3nm.
As a result, it may turn out that the Xiaomi Xring O1 chipset will become the first and last single-chip system capable of competing with solutions from American Qualcomm and Taiwanese MediaTek, which will switch to a 2nm process in 2026-2027.