Chinese media, citing the Chief Economist of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, has reported that Xiaomi has completed the design and testing of China’s first 3nm smartphone chip.

This makes Xiaomi the first Chinese company to develop a 3nm-class chip. The company has reached the production-ready (“tape out”) phase, meaning it’s prepared to begin manufacturing. However, the specific manufacturer has not been disclosed.

Currently, TSMC (Taiwan) and Samsung (South Korea) are the only two companies globally capable of producing chips with this level of precision. While the Chinese company SMIC is making progress in this area, US sanctions prohibiting the import of advanced manufacturing equipment have hindered its efforts.

Reaching the production-ready stage is not the end of the road, but rather the beginning. Once manufacturing commences, the design’s efficiency in terms of cost versus benefits will become apparent. It is not guaranteed to be economically viable.

Huawei recently announced a patent using advanced lithography techniques to produce 3nm chips in collaboration with SMIC, aiming for domestic manufacturing and technology. However, unlike Xiaomi, Huawei has not yet reached the production-ready phase.