[바르셀로나(스페인)=디지털데일리 김문기 기자] Xiaomi focused the attention of the global IT industry by suddenly announcing an astronomical investment plan of 24 billion euros, or approximately 40.88 trillion won in Korean won, over the next five years. This investment goes beyond simple facility expansion and aims to achieve complete self-reliance in the three core technologies of chipset, operating system, and artificial intelligence, demonstrating Xiaomi’s will to fundamentally shake up the premium market dominated by Samsung Electronics and Apple.
Xiaomi held a launching event at the Palau de congresos de catalunya prior to ‘MWC 2026’ held in Barcelona, Spain on the 28th (local time).
Xiaomi President William Lu, who came on stage, gave a keynote speech and said that the company had had its most successful year financially, with sales exceeding 55 billion euros in 2025.
In particular, he announced that Xiaomi EV achieved a cumulative delivery of 500,000 units in 608 days after launch, expressing confidence that it is “the only company in the world with a complete ‘Human x Car x Home’ ecosystem that encompasses strategy, products, core technology, and manufacturing.” This is more than 100 days faster than Tesla, the pioneer in the electric vehicle market.
The technological peak of this event was definitely the Xiaomi 17 series. Senior Product Marketing Manager Terrence Xiao opened the event by saying, “We are truly living in the ‘era of mobile images.’”
He compared the compact flagship Xiaomi 17 with the iPhone 17 Pro and emphasized, “As a result of the game test, Xiaomi 17 not only runs cooler than the iPhone, but also consumed less battery.” He then said, “When the iPhone reached 0%, the Xiaomi 17 had 23% remaining. This is a ‘battery that surpasses Pro’,” drawing cheers from the scene.
The top model, Xiaomi 17 Ultra, introduced unprecedented camera innovations befitting its title of ‘King of the Night’.
Global spokesperson TJ Walton introduced LOFIC technology, which increases the light storage capacity per pixel by 6 times, and defined LOFIC as “a secret weapon that solves ‘limited dynamic range’, the biggest pain point of smartphone cameras.” In addition, he presented a picture of a fireworks display and explained, “You can achieve the perfect balance by ‘just aiming and taking a picture’ without any complicated settings.”
He also added about the mechanical optical zoom system, “Xiaomi’s innovation is to pursue ‘optical authenticity’ rather than relying on digital zoom.”
The partnership with Leica has also evolved to a higher level. Leica CEO Matthias Harsch went on stage and unveiled the Rights Phone, saying, “For Leica, the most important thing in imaging is ‘essence.’”
He emphasized the mechanical camera ring, saying, “This red dot is not just a decoration, but a symbol that Leica owns the copyright to the entire experience.”
CEO Harsh declared, “Through the ‘perfect marriage’ of Leica’s philosophy and Xiaomi’s performance, we have created the best environment where technology supports creativity.”
The expandability of the ecosystem also attracted attention. Xiaomi Pad 8 Pro is 5mm thick and equipped with Snapdragon 8 Elite to achieve laptop-level productivity. Spokesperson TJ Walton showed off the borderless ecosystem, saying, “It seamlessly synchronizes with Apple products, such as being used as a secondary display for MacBook.”
Spokesperson Jennifer Jeong then unveiled the Xiaomi Watch 5, which is equipped with the world’s first electromyography sensor, and explained, “Now there is no need to touch the screen. You can turn your intention into an instant command with a simple gesture of double tapping or swiping your finger.”
Xiaomi Vision Gran Turismo, which concluded the event, showed the ultimate future that Xiaomi EV aims to reach. Design director Li Tianyuan explained the 0.29Cd’s aerodynamic design with the expression “a shape sculpted by the wind.”
He introduced the ‘Sofa Racer’ interior concept and emphasized, “Even at the moment of the most powerful performance, the driver can feel as comfortable as sitting on the living room sofa.” He also concluded, “This is the future of intelligent vehicles and the completion of the ecosystem defined by Xiaomi.”
