Is the Xiaomi 18 Ultra cancelled? That's the claim circulating after leaker Digital Chat Station posted on Weibo, with the information subsequently relayed by Abhishek Yadav and multiple technology outlets.
According to the leak, Xiaomi scrapped the phone because its planned price was considered too high to generate sustainable sales. Xiaomi has issued no public confirmation that the 18 Ultra was cancelled.
The cancellation claim ultimately traces back to leakers rather than Xiaomi. Digital Chat Station's original Weibo post is no longer readily accessible, although outlets including Android Authority captured the post and its reported specifications before it disappeared. What's circulating is therefore a leak amplified across multiple publications, not several independent confirmations of Xiaomi's decision.
The price figure driving the story is CNY 9,999, effectively CNY 10,000, for a reported 12GB/256GB configuration. That compares with the Xiaomi 17 Ultra's official CNY 6,999 launch price for 12GB/512GB.
What's confirmed about the Xiaomi 18 Ultra cancellation
Xiaomi hasn't confirmed that it cancelled the 18 Ultra or announced the leaked specifications and pricing attached to it. The reported cancellation remains a claim, not a settled fact.
The available reporting traces the latest claim primarily to Digital Chat Station, but rumors about the phone's fate predate the October post.
Earlier reports had already claimed that Xiaomi had cancelled or shelved the Ultra project. The newer Digital Chat Station leak repeats the cancellation claim while adding extensive alleged specifications and the CNY 9,999 price.
That doesn't turn multiple articles covering those claims into independent confirmation. Until Xiaomi addresses the device or stronger evidence emerges about its product roadmap, the safest framing is that the Xiaomi 18 Ultra is reportedly cancelled.
Xiaomi's current lineup does provide some context. The company has already launched the Xiaomi 18 Pro and Xiaomi 18 Pro Max in China and confirmed that the Pro series will expand globally this year. The absence of an announced Ultra alongside them is notable, but it doesn't prove that an 18 Ultra was cancelled rather than delayed, renamed, or never scheduled for this part of the product cycle.
Why was the Xiaomi 18 Ultra reportedly cancelled over price?
The core of the leak is that Xiaomi planned a CNY 9,999 starting price for a 12GB/256GB configuration and decided that sales wouldn't be sustainable at that level.
That would represent a roughly 43% increase over the Xiaomi 17 Ultra's official CNY 6,999 starting price.
The comparison becomes more striking because Xiaomi launched the 17 Ultra at CNY 6,999 with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, twice the storage attributed to the leaked 18 Ultra base configuration.
Those figures refer to Chinese pricing.
The Xiaomi 17 Ultra subsequently launched internationally at €1,499, but simply converting or extrapolating the leaked CNY 9,999 price doesn't establish what Xiaomi would have charged for an 18 Ultra outside China.
There's also no public Xiaomi cost breakdown showing that the camera hardware specifically made the phone commercially unviable. The alleged price and cancellation reason come from the leak.
The leaked Xiaomi 18 Ultra camera specs behind the price tag
The leak describes an unusually ambitious triple-200MP rear camera system.
According to Digital Chat Station's reported specifications, the Xiaomi 18 Ultra would have used:
A 200MP 1/1.12-inch main camera with LOFIC technology
A 200MP 1/1.28-inch periscope telephoto camera with LOFIC and continuous optical zoom
A 200MP 1/1.56-inch ultrawide camera
The leak also mentions a multispectral sensor and a magnetic external lens accessory.
LOFIC, or lateral overflow integration capacitor, is an image-sensor technology designed to increase the amount of charge a pixel can accommodate before saturation, potentially improving highlight retention and dynamic range.
Those specifications remain unconfirmed. Xiaomi hasn't announced the sensors, continuous-zoom system, or external lens for an 18 Ultra.
The same leak describes a flat display with approximately 1mm bezels and flagship-level processing hardware.
Some coverage has interpreted the relatively conventional 12GB/256GB memory configuration alongside the elaborate camera system as evidence that much of the phone's cost was concentrated in its cameras. That's an interpretation of the leaked specification sheet, not a verified Xiaomi bill of materials.
What Xiaomi has actually announced for shoppers right now
Unlike the 18 Ultra, the Xiaomi 18 Pro and Xiaomi 18 Pro Max are real, released products.
Xiaomi launched both phones in China in September. Its Chinese store currently lists the Xiaomi 18 Pro from CNY 5,999 and Xiaomi 18 Pro Max from CNY 6,999.
Xiaomi has also publicly confirmed that the Xiaomi 18 Pro series will launch globally this year, although pricing and detailed availability for individual international markets haven't been announced.
That makes the company's current flagship strategy unusual compared with the previous generation. The Xiaomi 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max stayed in China, while the Xiaomi 17 Ultra received a global launch. This year, Xiaomi has already committed to taking the 18 Pro series international while the rumored 18 Ultra is reportedly off the launch calendar.
That pattern gives the cancellation rumor some context, but it still doesn't confirm why Xiaomi made its product decisions.
Separate rumors about devices such as the vivo X500 Ultra and Oppo Find X10 Ultra aren't evidence that Xiaomi cancelled its own Ultra model, so they don't add much weight to the claim.
Nothing Xiaomi has announced establishes whether the leaked triple-200MP camera system, LOFIC sensors, continuous optical zoom, or magnetic lens concept could appear in another device.
For now, the distinction is straightforward: Xiaomi has launched the 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max and confirmed plans to take that series global. The Xiaomi 18 Ultra's alleged cancellation, CNY 9,999 price, and triple-200MP camera system remain leaks.
Anyone shopping Xiaomi's current lineup shouldn't delay a purchase on the assumption that the 18 Ultra is definitely coming, or definitely gone. Xiaomi hasn't publicly settled that question.
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