It looks like Xiaomi is getting ready to enter the mobile SoC segment. A Korean publication has revealed that the custom CPU cores will be called Rifle, with an official announcement slated for May 10, where the vendor will introduce its Mi Max phablet as well as the successor to the Mi Band.
Citing an anonymous source at Xiaomi's component partner, KoreaTimes writes:
Xiaomi plans to release its in-house Rifle-dubbed mobile APUs at a company event, which has been set to take place May.
The report mentions that Xiaomi will develop the APUs using an architecture license from ARM, which is similar to what Qualcomm does with its Kryo cores. Xiaomi's custom cores will initially be offered in its budget phones, but they will eventually expand to include the company's tablets and TVs as well.
With Samsung and Huawei also making their own mobile SoCs in-house, it makes sense for Xiaomi to venture into the segment. There's no mention as to whether the custom cores will be built on a 14nm manufacturing process like the latest offerings from Qualcomm and Samsung, or whether they'll stick to the more standard 28nm node. We'll know more on May 10.
