The Xiaomi 13 series as well as MIUI 14, based on Android 13 were previously confirmed to be released in China on December 1st. However, this launch event has been cancelled for the time being.
Xiaomi has not provided an official reason for postponing the event. Still, it is very likely that the demise of the former President of the People’s Republic of China, Jiang Zemin, has forced their hand. The news of Jiang Zemin’s death was announced in China on November 30th, the same day Xiaomi released a statement calling off their launch event.
To convey the news, Xiaomi posted the following on its Weibo page (translated from Chinese), “We are sorry to inform you that the launch of the new Mi 13 series will be postponed. We will notify you as soon as the new release date is confirmed. Thank you for your understanding and support.”
This is not the first time the political landscape in China has affected the release date of a phone. Back in August, Motorola, which is a subsidiary of Chinese company Lenovo, had to delay the release of the Razr 2022 by more than a week, from 2nd to 11th August due to the rising political tensions between the US and China.
With Xiaomi, it is impossible at this stage to determine when they might find it appropriate to reschedule the release date. Xiaomi 13 series was to be one of the final big launches of the year, promising some very impressive features under the hood, and MIUI 14, which Xiaomi calls their most efficient version of MIUI.
Key in their campaign in the build-up to the release was the company continuing their partnership with Leica, allowing Xiaomi’s flagships to feature Leica-branded cameras, just like the Xiaomi 12 series. Furthermore, the Xiaomi 13 series will only be the second line-up to feature Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 after Vivo X90 Pro+
