Xiaomi has confirmed that its upcoming flagship smartphone series, powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, will see a price increase compared to previous models.
Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun confirmed the news in a post on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, explaining, “The cost of components has increased a lot this year, and we’ve also invested heavily in R&D. So, the Xiaomi 15 does need a price increase.”
This price hike isn’t entirely unexpected. Last year, Jun hinted that the Xiaomi 14 would be the last flagship to start at 3,999 yuan (around $562).
Xiaomi’s president, Lu Weibing, echoed these statements, citing that the new flagship processor brings both improved performance and higher costs. He also cited rising memory prices as another factor behind the price increase.
Xiaomi 15 may start from 4299 yuan
While not explicitly stating a price point, Lu drew a comparison to the Vivo X200, a competitor flagship equipped with the new Dimensity 9400 chip. The price of that phone has increased by “more than 300 yuan,” he noted, asking, “What do you think is a reasonable price increase for the Xiaomi 15?”
This hint suggests the Xiaomi 15 series may see a similar 300 yuan (about $43) increase, potentially raising the starting price to 4,299 yuan ($604).
As expected, this news follows months of leaks predicting an uptick in smartphone prices due to rising costs of flagship processors and key components. And Xiaomi’s confirmation now serves as a concrete example.
Additionally, leaked pricing for the OnePlus 13, another phone powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, also indicates a price hike compared to its predecessor.
As far as specs are concerned, both the Xiaomi 15 and 15 Pro will have Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 at their core and a triple-camera sensor on the back, with each sensor boasting 50 megapixels.
Design-wise, they are likely to resemble their resemble their predecessors. Xiaomi will also introduce a Titanium version of the Xiaomi 15 Pro with satellite communication support. But both the 15 Pro and 15 Pro Titanium are said to be China-exclusive, like their predecessors.
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