Xiaomi signs deal with maker of mobile processors

Xiaomi is said to have reached an agreement with Leadcore, a maker of mobile socs, to use the company’s patents. The deal would be converted to about 13.5 million euros, Chinese media report.

The deal was signed this week between Leadcore and Beijing Songguo Electronics, which, according to Chinese media, is a subsidiary of Xiaomi. With the patents, the Chinese electronics manufacturer reportedly wants to be able to make a better fist against competitors such as Apple and Samsung. Xiaomi did not want to confirm the agreement.

The patent exchange is not entirely unexpected. Last month a rumor surfaced which indicated that Xiaomi would like to take a majority stake in Leadcore. That is a subsidiary of Datang, a large Chinese telecom company that makes socs for cheaper hardware. The current socs have Cortex A7 processor cores and ARM Mali 400 GPUs on board.

Xiaomi releases its devices in some Asian countries and has been making a lot of progress lately. The Chinese manufacturer is currently one of the largest smartphone makers in the world. In any case, the company has to tolerate Apple and Samsung and is competing with Lenovo, LG and Huawei for third place in the global smartphone market.