Xiaomi President Lu Weibing: Memory prices to keep rising through 2027

By China Business News (Reporter Jiao Likun, Text/Photos)

Xiaomi has made another aggressive move in the high-end smartphone market. On the evening of September 23, the company unveiled its flagship bar-style smartphone, the Xiaomi 18 Pro series, with a starting price of 5,999 yuan. The top-tier transparent special edition reaches a price point of over 10,000 yuan.

Speaking about memory costs, Lu Weibing, Partner and Group President of Xiaomi, indicated that prices will continue to rise next year.

"Memory prices have been surging since the second quarter of last year, and have now been rising for a year and a half. The industry generally predicts that 2027 will also see a continuous upward trend, though the rate of increase may slow. However, the base price is already too high. If you are considering upgrading your phone in the near future, I recommend buying sooner rather than later—the earlier you buy, the better the price," Lu said.

Photo: Xiaomi new product launch event.

Rising Costs Drive Price Hikes Across the Industry

Under pressure from continuously rising memory costs, major smartphone manufacturers have raised prices this year. Older models have seen increases ranging from several hundred to over a thousand yuan, while new models have also raised their entry-level prices. Competition in the high-end smartphone market has become particularly fierce.

Xiaomi has been making consecutive moves in the premium segment. On September 7, the company launched the "mid-fold" Xiaomi 18 Fold series, starting at 10,999 yuan—making it the "most expensive Xiaomi phone ever." The top configuration of this series has reached 15,999 yuan.

'Biggest Upgrade Ever' for Xiaomi's Digital Series

Lu Weibing stated that the newly launched Xiaomi 18 Pro series represents the "biggest upgrade in the history of Xiaomi's digital series." From system software to chip hardware, and from imaging to large-model applications, it marks "the beginning of Xiaomi's comprehensive AI transformation of smartphones."

The series is equipped with Super Xiao Ai 2.0, which integrates Xiaomi's MiMo large model. Compared to traditional smartphone AI features, Super Xiao Ai 2.0 claims to understand, remember, think, and act, and can autonomously use over 260 system tools.

Performance: World's First Snapdragon 2nm Flagship Platform

In terms of performance, the Xiaomi 18 Pro series is the world's first to feature Qualcomm's new-generation Snapdragon 2nm flagship mobile platform. The 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max are powered by the 6th Gen Snapdragon 8至尊版 and 6th Gen Snapdragon 8 Super至尊版, respectively. Both are built on a 2nm process, delivering further improvements in performance and energy efficiency.

Photo: The Xiaomi 18 Pro series offers enhanced performance and energy efficiency.

At the 2026 Qualcomm Snapdragon Summit, held in the early hours of September 23, Qualcomm officially launched the 6th Gen Snapdragon 8至尊版 and 6th Gen Snapdragon 8 Super至尊版 mobile platforms. This marks the first time in Snapdragon 8 series history that two至尊版 platforms have been released simultaneously in the flagship product line. The 6th Gen Snapdragon 8 Super至尊版 is described as the "world's fastest mobile CPU."

Xiaomi's 'Technology Month' and AI Ambitions

Internally, Xiaomi has dubbed September as "Technology Month," with a concentrated burst of innovation across chips, AI large models, operating systems, as well as automobiles, smartphones, and home appliances.

On September 22, Xiaomi released and open-sourced its next-generation MiMo large model. Among them, Xiaomi MiMo-V2.6-Pro topped the global open-source large model rankings and ranked first among domestic models on the Artificial Analysis comprehensive intelligence index.

Over the past five years, Xiaomi has invested a cumulative total of 105.5 billion yuan in R&D and holds over 47,000 global authorized patents. The company plans to invest at least another 200 billion yuan over the next five years, with no less than 60 billion yuan allocated to AI over the next three years.