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The Xiaomi 15 Ultra, in the foreground, and the Xiaomi 15 in the background.

Xiaomi

BARCELONA — Xiaomi launched its latest flagship smartphone on Sunday continuing its push into higher-end devices as it seeks to challenge market leader Samsung.

The Xiaomi 15 and Xiaomi 15 Ultra are the most recent pair of smartphones from the Chinese technology giant sporting the latest chips and boosted cameras. They were unveiled at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

The Xiaomi 15 starts at 999 euros ($1,047) and the Xiaomi 15 Ultra starts at 1,499 euros ($1,571).

Both devices are powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Mobile Platform, one of the latest processors. The 15 Ultra model also comes with a higher spec camera and bigger display.

“Xiaomi has been hugely successful of building its brand with affordable technology and but now it’s moving up the value chain as it moves more into premium devices and that’s well-suited to the European market where we see an affluent audience,” Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight, told CNBC.

In 2024, Xiaomi’s global smartphone shipments grew 15.4% year-on-year, outpacing rivals including Samsung and Apple, according to the International Data Corporation. The company’s worldwide market share rose to 13.6% from 12.5% in 2023.

Xiaomi started up in 2010 selling low-to-mid price smartphones at very cut-throat prices. Since then it has expanded overseas, placing a big emphasis on its European foothold. Xiaomi has also built a portfolio of connected devices from TVs to smartwatches.

Last year, the business jumped into the electric vehicle space with the SU7, as it looks to diversify beyond consumer electronics. It even brought the car to the Mobile World Congress in 2024, displaying the vehicle at the company’s large booth and creating a buzz.

Francisco Jeronimo, vice president for data and analytics at IDC, said the EV has given a boost to Xiaomi’s brand.

“They are using the car as leverage to build on their brand which I think is a clever idea,” Jeronimo said.

“They will grab a lot of attention with the car even if it’s not going to be available in Europe, but it’s that kind of innovation. And consumers understand that a brand that can build a car can also continue doing very good phones.”

A recent recovery in the smartphone business, combined with the success of the electric vehicle so far, has helped fuel a nearly 300% rise in Xiaomi’s stock in the last 12 months.

Xiaomi’s shares, which are listed in a Hong Kong, hit a record high this week. The firm is hoping to continue that momentum with the latest smartphones and the launch of the SU7 Ultra, a high-performance version of its electric car that was launched on Thursday.

Still, the company is facing a big challenge in the smartphone space at trying to eat continued share away from Samsung, especially with other Chinese brands like Oppo on its heels.

“The problem is the premium space is now unbelievably crowded, and although all Android phone makers aspire to take share from Apple, the reality is if you’re going to grow in Android, you need to take it from another Android player. So that means for Xiaomi, they need to be eroding Samsung’s share,” CCS Insight’s Wood said.

“But unfortunately, you’ve got 2 other big Chinese players in Oppo and Honor who are very very hungry to build share.”

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Lenovo teases solar-powered and foldable screen laptops in latest concept

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Lenovo teases solar-powered and foldable screen laptops in latest concept

The Lenovo ThinkBook ‘flip’ concept. The screen is able to fold once horizontally to create two different screen spaces.

CNBC: Lenovo Flip PC

Lenovo on Monday showed off a laptop with a foldable screen and one that can get extra battery life from solar power.

These laptops are just concepts, meaning they are not commercially available. Lenovo, the world’s biggest PC maker, has a history of showing off imaginative concepts with some becoming reality, so it’s worth keeping an eye on what the Chinese technology giant is up to.

For example, Lenovo previously showed off the idea of a rollable laptop — one where the screen rolls upwards to increase the size of the display. The company will begin selling such a laptop this year.

The latest concepts were unveiled at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona.

Foldable laptop screen

The Lenovo ThinkBook ‘flip’ concept is a laptop with a foldable screen. When fully unfolded, the screen is an 18-inch display.

The screen can then be folded in half horizontally to create two screens — one on the front and one on the back.

The entire display can be folded down flat so the laptop turns into a tablet-like device.

The Lenovo ThinkBook ‘flip’ concept unfolds into an 18-inch display.

Arjun Kharpal | CNBC

Foldable displays are not new. Consumer electronics players like Samsung and Honor have launched smartphones with foldable displays. Huawei even sells a smartphone with a trifold screen.

But foldable screens of this size and on laptops are uncommon.

There’s plenty more work Lenovo will likely need to do before this can be commercialized including improving the durability of the display.

Solar powered laptop

The Lenovo Yoga Solar PC is another concept device shown off at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in 2025. It has solar panels on the pack which Lenovo says can give the user extra battery life.

Arjun Kharpal | CNBC

The Lenovo Yoga Solar PC is the company’s other concept device named after its line of Yoga laptops.

The product has solar panels on the back. These are able to absorb light.

While the PC still works with a traditional charger, the idea is that the solar power can give the user an extra bit of battery when the device is running low and there may not be access to a charging point.

Lenovo said that the solar panels can absorb even ambient light in a person’s surroundings to give a user an extra hour of laptop use at the end of an eight-hour work day.

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Xiaomi to sell EVs globally ‘within the next few years’ after launching $73,000 premium car

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Xiaomi to sell EVs globally 'within the next few years' after launching ,000 premium car

The Xiaomi SU7 Ultra on display at the Xiaomi store in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, Feb 27, 2025. Xiaomi’s first luxury model, the SU7 Ultra, will be officially launched on the evening of February 27. 

Cfoto | Future Publishing | Getty Images

BARCELONA — Xiaomi plans to begin selling its electric vehicles outside of China “within the next few years,” company President William Lu said on Sunday.

Lu made the announcement at Xiaomi’s product launch at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. While there were no concrete timelines, his comments underscore the Chinese technology giant’s ambitions in the global EV market to take on players like Tesla.

“I cannot share too many details but I am so excited to tell our global users that Xiaomi will be releasing EVs for the sale in global markets within the next few years,” Lu said.

This week, Xiaomi launched its first premium EV in China called the SU7 Ultra, which starts at 529,000 Chinese yuan ($72,627). Lu said the car racked up 15,000 orders in 24 hours and will be on display at the company’s booth at MWC.

It’s only Xiaomi’s second electric car after its announcing its foray into the EV segment in 2021. The company’s first vehicle, called the SU7, was launched last year in March. The company, which is best-known as a smartphone player, only sells its EVs in China but it is the world’s third-largest smartphone vendor.

Xiaomi’s SU7 has been successful, with the company delivering more than 100,000 units last year.

Xiaomi’s EV boom, along with a recovery in smartphone sales, has helped the company’s stock, which is listed in Hong Kong, surge almost 300% over the last 12 months.

The Beijing-headquartered company is looking to ride that wave with a new high-end phone called the Xiaomi 15 Ultra launched on Sunday, which it hopes will challenge Samsung on a global stage.

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Trump announces strategic crypto reserve including bitcoin, Solana, XRP and more

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Trump announces strategic crypto reserve including bitcoin, Solana, XRP and more

FRANCE – 2025/01/20: In this photo illustration, Trump Meme , Trump the Crypto president, is seen displayed on a smartphone screen. (Photo Illustration by Romain Doucelin/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Romain Doucelin | Getty Images

Cryptocurrencies rallied on Sunday after President Donald Trump announced the creation of a U.S. strategic crypto reserve that will include bitcoin and ether, as well as XRP,  Solana’s SOL token and Cardano’s ADA, he said in a post on Truth Social.

“A U.S. Crypto Reserve will elevate this critical industry after years of corrupt attacks by the Biden Administration, which is why my Executive Order on Digital Assets directed the Presidential Working Group to move forward on a Crypto Strategic Reserve that includes XRP, SOL, and ADA,” the post said. “I will make sure the U.S. is the Crypto Capital of the World.”

“And, obviously, BTC and ETH, as other valuable Cryptocurrencies, will be at the heart of the Reserve,” he said in a follow-up post.

XRP surged 33% after the announcement while the token tied to Solana jumped 22%. Cardano’s coin soared more than 60%.

Bitcoin and ether gained 9% and 11%, respectively.

This is the first time Trump has specified his support for a crypto “reserve” versus a “stockpile.” While the former involves actively buying crypto in regular installments, a stockpile would simply not sell any of the crypto currently held by the U.S. government.

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Bitcoin jumps on Trump’s announcement of a strategic crypto reserve

Trump first introduced the idea of a national bitcoin stockpile last summer at Bitcoin 2024 in Nashville, one of the industry’s largest conferences, where he began courting the crypto vote. At the same event, Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis introduced her proposal for a national strategic bitcoin reserve.

After his re-election in November, the drumbeat for a strategic bitcoin reserve grew louder, helping send the price of the flagship cryptocurrency to new all-time highs. That seemed to come to a halt after Trump issued his executive order on crypto in late January. It called for the President’s Working Group on crypto to evaluate the “potential creation and maintenance of a national digital asset stockpile, potentially derived from cryptocurrencies lawfully seized by the Federal Government through its law enforcement efforts,” among other things.

The industry had a lukewarm response to the language, — in part because investors expected a focus on bitcoin, whereas the term “digital assets” suggested the stockpile could include other cryptocurrencies without giving specifics.

Don’t miss these cryptocurrency insights from CNBC Pro:

Bitcoin had been in consolidation since the executive order. It just closed out its worst month since 2022, with its performance driven by macro uncertainty as it’s been absent a crypto specific catalyst.

Trump is hosting the first White House Crypto Summit on Friday, and investors will be watching closely for more clues about the direction of the reserve plans.

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