As it turns out, the rumours were correct. Xiaomi has just announced that it has entered into a strategic relationship with Leica, and that the first imaging flagship smartphone produced jointly by the two firms would be released in July of this year. We think it's safe to infer that the rumour mill was correct regarding the Xiaomi-Leica relationship, and that the gadget in issue is the Xiaomi 12 Ultra, but we'll see.
This isn't Leica's first rodeo in the smartphone realm, as you may know. The camera company's most well-known and perhaps most successful such cooperation to date was with Huawei, but given that the latter is still subject to numerous US government sanctions, it's understandable that Leica would wish to go out.
"Xiaomi and Leica share the same beliefs on mobile image," according to their joint press statement, and they're both anxious to push mobile photography to the next level. Lei Jun, the CEO of Xiaomi, stated: "Xiaomi is focused on providing the best possible user experience, and has always wished to push the boundaries of smartphone photography. Xiaomi and Leica "share common goals and ideals," and their collaboration includes optical design and "adjusting aesthetic orientations." ".
"It is an honour to announce the long-term strategic cooperation with Xiaomi," said Leica Camera AG CEO Matthias Harsch, who also mentioned a "unprecedented deep cooperation process," adding that Leica and Xiaomi are "convinced that the first jointly developed imaging flagship smartphone makes both companies' pioneering progress visible." He promises "unrestricted inventiveness," "excellent image quality," and "traditional Leica aesthetics."
Only time (and the debut of the Xiaomi 12 Ultra) will reveal where this one falls on the depth scale - where one end is really simply the mobile phone maker using the camera company's brand and a few filters in the camera app, and the other is actually co-developed hardware and software. Let's see if Leica accomplishes the same with Xiaomi like it did with Huawei. July cannot arrive fast enough.
