Xiaomi Unveils First Mid-Fold Phone 18 Fold, Starting at RMB 10,999

On September 7, Xiaomi officially introduced its first mid-fold flagship smartphone, the Xiaomi 18 Fold, at its autumn new-product launch event, with a starting price of RMB 10,999. The product project was initiated two years ago, with a development cycle of 20 months, and is positioned as Xiaomi's most premium handset to date.

The Xiaomi 18 Fold is powered by the self-developed Xuanjie O3 AI flagship processor and is equipped with a 6,000mAh battery. It measures 5.02mm in thickness when unfolded and 10.68mm when folded, weighing 219 grams, and supports up to six-window split-screen display. The device features a 5.38-inch external screen and a 7.58-inch internal screen, both employing "Super Pixel" technology to enhance clarity and reduce power consumption. The handset is available in red, black, and white color options. The highest-spec version is priced at RMB 14,999, and a special edition with 16GB RAM and 1TB storage, crafted from silicon nitride ceramic, is priced at RMB 15,999, limited to 1,500 units.

At the event, Xiaomi Group Chairman and CEO Lei Jun discussed the company's chip development progress. He stated that Xiaomi has invested RMB 21 billion since deciding to enter chip manufacturing, with plans to invest RMB 50 billion in research and development over the next decade. The Xuanjie O3 chip has now entered commercial use, and two additional chips, the Xuanjie O100 and D100, are scheduled for commercial deployment in the first half of 2027. Lei Jun noted that Xiaomi has been developing foldable phones for five to six years, having previously released four large-fold and two small-fold models. The new mid-fold form factor aims to combine the strengths of both categories.

The Xiaomi 18 Fold is also the first device to mass-produce the next-generation low-power memory chip LPDDR6, developed jointly by Xiaomi and ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT). CXMT's first LPDDR6 product has a design specification rate of 12,800 Mbps, with a base rate of 10,667 Mbps when operating in tandem with the system-on-chip. The chip features a 16Gb die capacity, 16GB total capacity, and a stacked package with 1,295 solder balls, offering improvements in low-power design and reliability over LPDDR5X products. The Xiaomi 18 Fold went on sale officially on the day of the launch event.