As global smartphone shipments contract, the losses become unbearable for manufacturers like Xiaomi, who have to compete in an insanely tough market, while Apple enjoys all the spoils with the highest profit margin collection. The Chinese phone maker started out making affordable handsets with competitive price tags, and to have an edge in this space once more, one rumor claims that it is bringing multiple flagship camera features to mid-range devices.

Xiaomi also aims to use higher-quality panels in these mid-range smartphones

As of Q1 2023, Xiaomi’s global smartphone share has dropped from 13 percent to 11 percent, but according to @korean_riceball on the newly-rebranded social media platform X, it has a plan where it can regain lost shipments by giving mid-range smartphones new flagship camera features. As demand for handsets reduces, the premium lineup suffers immensely since these cost the most, and given how significantly improved phones have gotten in the last couple of years, making annual upgrades cannot be justified any longer.

Xiaomi’s capabilities with making flagship smartphones cannot be questioned, as its top-tier 13 Ultra was a testament to how far these companies have come, but as usual, these devices only make sense if there are millions of customers behind them. According to the details shared on the micro-blogging website, Xiaomi’s mid-range smartphones are said to feature 200MP cameras, along with larger sensor sizes to mitigate the diminishing returns of using high-megapixel-count hardware with smaller sensors.

See more

Xiaomi plan involves making mid-range smartphones more widely available with certain features. These features include a main camera with an impressive 200 million pixel resolution, as well as a single large camera sensor that allows for 4X optical zoom, providing better zoomed-in

— Riceball 𝕏 (@korean_riceball) August 8, 2023

On top of that, the main camera is rumored to be complemented with another large sensor that supports 4x optical zoom. Even though the majority of readers do not believe that a 4x zoom level is a significant improvement, bear in mind that the iPhone 14 Pro Max, a flagship that retails for $1,099 in the U.S., is limited to 3x optical zoom, so on paper, users will gain an additional zoom level to capture images or record video.

Xiaomi also aims to bring improvements in the battery capacities, using 5,000mAh cells that support 120W of fast-charging. While we do not favor pumping massive amounts of wattage to a smartphone’s battery as it will have deleterious long-term effects, it is the company’s rumored decision. Another area that manufacturers skimp out on to save costs is the display. The post claims that these future mid-range handsets will also ship with a ‘unique curved screen design’ that produces ‘sharp and vibrant’ visuals.

Unfortunately, no specific smartphone model was mentioned in the post, so while Xiaomi has a decent strategy in place to increase shipments, we can only compare the results when those devices actually launch. Hopefully, the company’s work on the smartphones’ software will be just as impressive.

News Source: @korean_riceball