China's company, Xiaomi Inc. is aiming to use smartphone processor chips devised in-house in some of its lower-priced handsets in the second half of this year. The move would mark the first time that Xiaomi has used in-house designed chips. The in-house smartphone application processor chips have been devised for Xiaomi's low to mid-priced smartphone model RedMi Note series, but it isn't clear how many chips, Xiaomi is planning to make this year.

The world's 5th largest smartphone vendor, Xiaomi has hired around 300 people to work on smartphone chip design in cities including Nanjing and Beijing. Xiaomi has long been ardent for making in-house chips. Chinese chip designer Leadcore Technology Ltd, a company headquartered in Shanghai which is a subsidiary of state-backed Datang Telecom, in 2014 signed an agreement with privately-owned Beijing Pinecone Electronics to jointly design 4G multiple mode chips, a stock exchange filing showed. Beijing Pinecone Electronics is under Xiaomi and Xiaomi has declined to comment on its ties with the company.