From ‘iPhone Air’ Rival to Ultra-Thin Smartphone Canceled
Xiaomi came close to launching an ultra-thin smartphone widely viewed as an “iPhone Air” rival, but pulled the plug just before mass production. President Lu Weibing revealed that planning and early research were completed, and the device—rumored as the Xiaomi 17 Air—was nearly ready for market. Engineers, however, hit a hard limit: slimming the chassis left little room for a sizeable battery, robust cooling, and high-performance components. Xiaomi concluded that the trade-offs would undermine daily usability, even if the device looked impressive on paper and in hand. Rather than ship a phone with compromised endurance and throttled performance, the company chose to cancel the ultra-thin smartphone entirely. The move signals a deliberate break from the industry trend of chasing the lightest and slimmest designs at any cost, and it sets the stage for a different kind of flagship strategy focused on sustained power and reliability.
Enter the Xiaomi 17 Max Flagship: Bigger Battery, Bigger Ambitions
With the ultra-thin smartphone canceled, Xiaomi is channeling resources into the Xiaomi 17 Max flagship, a significantly larger device positioned as more than just a “Plus” variant. Lu Weibing emphasized that the Max label represents upgrades across imaging, performance, and battery life, not merely a bigger display. The Xiaomi 17 Max is designed to accommodate a much larger battery—described as substantial enough for heavy use—while leaving room for advanced camera hardware and high-end chips. By prioritizing thermal management and power capacity, Xiaomi aims to deliver consistent performance instead of brief bursts of speed followed by throttling. Company executives argue that users increasingly value endurance, camera versatility, and all-day reliability over ultra-slim silhouettes. In this context, the Xiaomi 17 Max becomes the showcase for Xiaomi’s new flagship philosophy: a device that leans into size to avoid compromising on core user experience.
How Memory Cost Impact on Smartphones Is Reshaping Flagship Strategy
Behind Xiaomi’s product decisions lies a harsher economic reality: rising component prices, especially memory, are reshaping flagship planning. Lu Weibing has warned that the cost of DRAM and NAND flash is climbing sharply, driven by surging demand from high-performance computing and artificial intelligence servers. Building new memory fabrication plants can take around three years, limiting how fast supply can expand. As a result, Xiaomi and its peers face sustained cost pressure on storage and RAM, both critical to modern flagships. Lu predicts that premium candybar flagships from major brands could cross the 10,000 yuan mark (about USD 1,470, approx. RM6,760) by the end of 2026. This projected flagship phone pricing in 2026 reflects not just inflation, but a structural squeeze on key components. For Xiaomi, focusing on high-value Max models rather than niche ultra-thin experiments is a way to justify and absorb these escalating bill-of-materials costs.
Lei Jun’s Warning: Buy Sooner as Flagship Phone Pricing in 2026 Climbs
Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun has taken the unusual step of publicly advising frequent upgraders not to wait too long for their next smartphone. Speaking at the Xiaomi 17 Max launch, he cautioned that ongoing rises in memory chip prices are already pushing up production costs across phones and other consumer electronics. Xiaomi says it is working to offset some of this pressure through supply chain efficiencies and internal optimizations, rather than directly passing all increases to buyers. However, Lei admits that keeping prices flat will become harder if memory costs keep climbing over the next two years. His comments echo Lu Weibing’s forecast that several premium flagships could surpass 10,000 yuan (about USD 1,470, approx. RM6,760). Together, their warnings underline a strategic shift: Xiaomi is preparing customers for a future where high-performance devices like the Xiaomi 17 Max cost more, but also deliver more tangible everyday benefits than ultra-thin designs.
