Xiaomi has reportedly dropped the Xiaomi 18 Ultra from its launch schedule, according to leaker Digital Chat Station, who says the phone’s camera hardware would have made it too expensive to sell profitably. Xiaomi hasn’t confirmed any of this, so it’s worth treating as a strong, repeated rumor rather than an official decision.
The reported reasoning is straightforward: the planned 18 Ultra would have started at CNY 9,999 for 12GB/256GB, around 1,490-1,500, and Xiaomi apparently didn’t believe enough people would pay that much. What would have justified that price is the real story here a proposed triple 200MP rear camera system, with a 200MP main sensor around 1/1.12-inch using LOFIC technology, a 200MP ultrawide around 1/1.56-inch, and a 200MP periscope telephoto around 1/1.28-inch, also with LOFIC and continuous optical zoom. That telephoto sensor alone was reportedly considerably larger than the one on the current Xiaomi 17 Ultra. On top of that, Xiaomi was said to be planning a magnetic external camera lens accessory and a multispectral sensor, alongside roughly 1mm bezels on all four sides, symmetrical stereo speakers, and a flagship Snapdragon chip rumored to clear a 5-million-plus benchmark score though the exact chip was never confirmed.
This isn’t the first time this rumor has surfaced either. Back in August, tipster Kartikey Singh made a similar claim, tying the cancellation to rising memory and component costs rather than the camera hardware specifically. The newer DCS report gives a more specific, camera-driven explanation, but both point to the same outcome. There’s also some disagreement in how permanent this actually is; some reports describe the Ultra as paused rather than killed outright, and one interpretation suggests the cancellation might be limited to the international version rather than the whole project, so “reportedly cancelled” is a safer way to describe it than treating it as final.
If the Ultra really is off the table, the Xiaomi 18 Pro Max effectively becomes Xiaomi’s flagship for this generation by default. It’s already launched in China with up to 16GB/1TB, an 8,500mAh battery, Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, and a Leica triple-camera system including two 200MP sensors, priced from CNY 6,999 up to CNY 9,999 at the top tier notably, the same price the cancelled Ultra would have started at. It’s a similar story to how flagship pricing has crept up across the industry, including on Xiaomi’s own past Ultra-tier phones compared against Apple’s lineup. There are also earlier leaks suggesting Xiaomi could revive Ultra branding with the 19 Ultra next generation, and nothing in the current reporting suggests Xiaomi has abandoned the underlying camera technology itself, just this particular phone built around it.
M Adnan Akram is the founder and lead writer at Phoonomo, covering mobile technology with a primary focus on Apple and the broader smartphone industry, alongside emerging developments in AI. He follows product launches, spec leaks, and industry trends closely to keep readers informed with timely updates.
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