Xiaomi affirms ongoing collaboration with Leica amidst rumours: Know more

Xiaomi's spokesperson said that its partnership with Leica "continues to thrive, grounded in a shared vision of pushing the boundaries of mobile imaging"

Chinese smartphone brand Xiaomi has clarified that it has no plans to end its long-standing partnership with German optics company Leica. The announcement follows multiple reports suggesting that Xiaomi would remove Leica branding from its upcoming flagship smartphones, including the anticipated Xiaomi 16 series. In response, a Xiaomi spokesperson called the claims “entirely unfounded.”

In a statement to Business Standard, Xiaomi spokesperson said: “Together, Xiaomi and Leica have collaborated closely to integrate advanced optics and imaging technologies into Xiaomi devices, delivering industry-leading mobile photography experiences to users around the world. This partnership continues to thrive, grounded in a shared vision of pushing the boundaries of mobile imaging. Recent rumours suggesting the end of our collaboration are entirely unfounded. Both companies remain committed to deepening this strategic partnership and bringing even more innovative imaging solutions to Xiaomi smartphones."

 

This is in response to the reports claiming that Xiaomi’s upcoming flagships, including the Xiaomi 16 series, as well as high-end Redmi and POCO devices, would not feature co-engineered camera systems from partners like Leica. These reports suggested that Xiaomi was planning to reallocate licensing fees toward hardware upgrades, including better camera sensors and improvements in computational photography.

It was also speculated that Xiaomi and its sub-brands would shift to using proprietary imaging technologies or adopt in-house colour tuning similar to Huawei, which ended its collaboration with Leica in 2022 to develop its own “XMAGE” camera system.

 

While Xiaomi has firmly denied these rumours, other smartphone brands appear to be reevaluating their camera collaborations. Last month, 9To5Google reported that OnePlus may be ending its partnership with Swedish camera brand Hasselblad, with its upcoming flagship expected to drop the Hasselblad branding altogether.