Xiaomi has denied that the new flagships are part of the 16 series. According to Xiaomi CEO Lei Weiying, the newest flagship smartphones from the manufacturer of electronics will soon be officially launched. Although turning strategies on its head, the manufacturer is clearly skipping the "16" series altogether to jump from last year's 15 series to a new "17" generation.
An Open Challenge to the iPhone
Xiaomi's chief in his communique said that this step was purposely taken to synchronize with its greatest competition. Their high-end strategy, started five years ago, has been gradual and involved learning and targeting iPhones for reference.
"The iPhone 17 generation's success was common knowledge, but we are still optimistic, so we are actually at par and head-on competing with the iPhone in the same generation and at the same level," it said in the statement.
Reportedly there is a high level of confidence in this assertion due to making substantial products with characteristics that high-end users may expect with their experiences and deep software-hardware integration.
Bankrolled by Huge R&D Outlay
The company emphasized that this move is in line with continuous technological advancement. Over the past five years, Xiaomi has spent 100 billion yuan on research and development, and the plan is to up that to 200 billion in the next five years.
The CEO said, "With the 17th series, you'll see a spate of our latest achievements." He also hinted the phones would offer "something new...that can save you from the boredom you might feel from the current models."
The Xiaomi 17 Series Coming Up Next
A fact revealed by the announcement was that the message itself had been sent from a Xiaomi 17 Pro Max smartphone. This gives a strong hint of the inclusion of this flagship model in the lineup, along with what is expected to be a base Xiaomi 17 and an Xiaomi 17 Pro.
Xiaomi is likely to begin announcing the official technical specifications of the new devices shortly.
