Strategic partnership with Leica has been officially announced by Xiaomi, confirming the strong rumour. The first smartphone jointly developed by the two companies will be released in July. If the rumours get out there, it will be the Xiaomi 12 Ultra.
Leica had previously worked with Huawei, but the US government's bans on the company led it to find other partners.
According to their joint press release, Xiaomi and Leica share the same ideas about mobile photography and want to level up the camera. "Xiaomi is focused on creating the ultimate user experience and has always hoped to explore the possibilities of smartphone photography at the edge. Xiaomi and Leica agree with each other's aspirations and ideas," said Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun.
For his part, Leica Camera AG CEO Matthias Harsch said that "it is an honor to announce the long-term strategic partnership with Xiaomi" and spoke of an "unprecedented deep collaboration process", adding that Leica and Xiaomi are "convinced that the first jointly developed flagship shows the pioneering progress of both companies". It promises "exceptional image quality, classic Leica aesthetics" and "unlimited creativity".
