The Xiaomi 18 Ultra has reportedly been canceled before reaching the market, according to a new claim from leakster Digital Chat Station. The phone was allegedly expected to cost CNY 10,000 for a model with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, a price Xiaomi reportedly believed would limit sales.

The claim follows Xiaomi’s announcement that the Xiaomi 18 Pro and Xiaomi 18 Pro Max will receive global launches. Their international availability marks a change from the Xiaomi 17 Pro and Xiaomi 17 Pro Max, which remained exclusive to China.

Why Xiaomi may have canceled the 18 Ultra

A CNY 10,000 starting price would have represented a substantial increase over Xiaomi’s previous Ultra models. The Xiaomi 17 Ultra launched in China at CNY 7,000 with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, giving buyers twice the capacity at a lower price.

The Xiaomi 17 Ultra Leica Edition was priced at CNY 8,000 with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. Against those models, the rumored Xiaomi 18 Ultra would have been significantly more expensive while offering less base storage.

The leaked information also comes with some uncertainty. Digital Chat Station’s original post is no longer accessible, so it is unclear whether the leakster still supports the reported cancellation and specifications.

Reported Xiaomi 18 Ultra camera specifications

If the specifications were accurate, the Xiaomi 18 Ultra would have been designed primarily as a camera-focused flagship. Its reported camera setup included three 200-megapixel sensors:

  • A 200MP main camera using a 1/1.12-inch LOFIC sensor
  • A 200MP periscope camera with a 1/1.28-inch LOFIC sensor
  • A 200MP ultra-wide camera with a 1/1.56-inch sensor

The periscope camera was also reportedly planned to use a continuous zoom lens. LOFIC technology, along with the large sensor sizes described in the leak, would have made the camera system the likely source of much of the phone’s cost.

Other rumored hardware

Beyond the camera hardware, the Xiaomi 18 Ultra was reportedly planned to include a flagship chipset, a flat display with bezels as narrow as 1mm, and symmetric stereo speakers. However, the rumored 12GB/256GB base configuration suggests that Xiaomi may have kept memory and storage more conservative to control the final specification or price.

The reported CNY 10,000 price converts to roughly $1,500, £1,125, €1,330 or ₹143,500, although exchange-rate conversions do not indicate what the phone would have cost in international markets.

The pricing question may become more important as other camera-focused Ultra phones arrive. The source notes that the prices of the vivo X500 Ultra and Oppo Find X10 Ultra were not yet known, leaving open the possibility that CNY 10,000 could become a more common price point for top-tier camera phones.