Xiaomi has just launched an advanced photography flagship phone model, Xiaomi 14 Ultra – a move to compete directly with Apple in the high-end smartphone segment.
Xiaomi 14 Ultra is the newest member of the Xiaomi 14 series smartphone series, priced starting at 6,499 yuan (903 USD). For comparison, the regular iPhone 15 has a retail price of 5,999 yuan and 7,999 yuan for the iPhone 15 Pro.
Xiaomi’s flagship model will compete directly with the iPhone in the high-end segment.
The company said it has started accepting pre-orders and the product will officially hit shelves on February 27 – which is also the time of the annual MWC event, held in Barcelona (Spain).
Xiaomi’s move comes after Huawei suddenly returned to the high-end mobile phone market segment with the Mate 60 Pro 5G model late last year. Previously, in 2022, Xiaomi also quickly signed a contract with Leica to improve camera and photography features on its products after the German lens company ended its 7-year contract with Huawei.
Xiaomi President Lu Weibing calls the Xiaomi 14 Ultra “the latest flagship photography mobile model”, with the main camera equipped with a large (1-inch) sensor and variable aperture.
The flagship of the Chinese phone company runs on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip from Qualcomm and the homegrown operating system HyperOS.
Also included in this product launch are the 6s Pro 12.4 tablet, Redmi Book Pro laptop and Redmi G Pro 27 screen.
Xiaomi aims to become the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer by 2024. However, the company still only ranked third globally in sales over the past 14 quarters, behind Apple and Samsung.
According to data from IDC, total smartphone sales in China in 2023 decreased by 5% compared to the previous year, to 271 million units – the lowest level in a decade despite signs of recovery appearing. .
Also last week, Xiaomi leaders revealed on social networks that the company’s smart factory in Beijing had completed construction and was capable of shipping 10 million phones per year.
(Theo SCMP)