Xiaomi founder Lei Jun today announced a major milestone for the company: the official opening of its smart factory in Changping, Beijing. This isn’t just any factory; Featuring an in-house developed production line capable of producing more than 10 million flagship smartphones per year, it marks Xiaomi’s first large-scale in-house manufacturing facility and a giant step forward in its smart manufacturing ambitions.

Smart production breakthrough from Xiaomi: Changing the factory is put into operation

This news comes just days before the highly anticipated launch of Xiaomi 14 Ultra, which is scheduled for February 22. Interestingly, Lei Jun confirmed that the innovative technologies of Xiaomi 14 Bay Blue and 14 Ultra were tested in this factory.

So what exactly makes this factory so smart? It has a staggering in-house development performance of 96.8% for testing components and packaging equipment and an excellent development performance of 100% for factory software. This degree of in-house development means a highly automated and digitalized production process capable of self-analysis and real-time data-driven decision-making. Essentially, this factory can learn and improve itself, ensuring consistent quality and efficiency.

This isn’t Xiaomi’s first foray into smart manufacturing. The company’s first smart factory, located in Beijing Yizhuang, became operational at the end of 2019. However, the Changping factory surpasses the previous factory in terms of scale, as it has an area ten times larger and includes a second-generation smart production line for smartphones. The line covers everything from PCB assembly and testing to final assembly, packaging and transportation, with an estimated production value of 60 billion yuan annually.

The 14 Ultra, which will be introduced on February 22, is expected to have a powerful Sony LYT900 main camera with OIS and variable aperture up to f1.6. It also has three secondary cameras, including a 50MP ultrawide, 50MP telephoto lens, and a 50MP periscope telephoto lens.

It is also expected to have a flat back panel and display, a 6.73-inch AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate and HDR10+ support, and a titanium frame option. It will weigh less than 220 grams and feature a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB storage and a 5,300 mAh battery with fast charging.