Lenovo, a global technology leader known for its extensive range of PCs, tablets, and smartphones, is making significant strides in the mobile chip industry with the emergence of its first self-developed smartphone System-on-Chip (SoC). Codenamed “SS1101,” this proprietary silicon marks a pivotal moment for the company, signaling a strategic shift towards greater hardware control and potentially more optimized device performance.
While Lenovo has historically relied on established chipmakers like Qualcomm and MediaTek for its mobile devices, the development of the SS1101 indicates a desire to follow in the footsteps of tech giants like Apple and Huawei, who have successfully integrated their own custom silicon into their product ecosystems. This move could grant Lenovo a competitive edge by allowing for deeper hardware-software optimization, custom features, and potentially better control over future product roadmaps and supply chains.
The SS1101 chip has recently surfaced in benchmark listings, providing an early glimpse into its capabilities. Reports suggest it features a deca-core (10-core) CPU configuration, designed with a clustered architecture for efficient task management. Specifically, the CPU is believed to consist of a mix of high-performance and efficiency cores, with prime cores reportedly clocking up to 3.29GHz. For graphics processing, the SS1101 is expected to integrate an Arm Immortalis-G720 GPU, a powerful component also found in high-end MediaTek Dimensity chipsets.
Early Geekbench results for the SS1101 show promising performance, placing it within the flagship territory of last year’s SoCs, with scores reportedly on par with or even exceeding some mid-range to high-end offerings from established players. While official details from Lenovo are still pending, rumors indicate that the SS1101 could be manufactured on a 5nm process node, potentially by TSMC or Samsung. This process, while not the absolute bleeding edge, is still highly capable of delivering efficient and powerful chips.
Initial speculation suggests that the SS1101 might first debut in an upcoming tablet, possibly the Yoga Pad Pro 14.5. This would allow Lenovo to test and refine its new silicon in a device that can showcase its multimedia and productivity capabilities before potentially integrating it into smartphones. The absence of a built-in modem in the current SS1101 configuration points towards the need for an external modem, a common approach for first-generation in-house chips.
The emergence of the SS1101 is part of a broader industry trend where more companies are investing in their own chip development. This push for silicon independence is driven by various factors, including the desire for greater innovation, enhanced control over product features, and the pursuit of optimized performance and power efficiency tailored to specific device needs. As Lenovo embarks on this new chapter of in-house chip development, the industry will be watching closely to see how the SS1101 performs in real-world scenarios and how it shapes Lenovo’s future product strategy.