Since autumn last year the tech sector has been in deep crisis due to component shortages and a drastic rise in memory prices, caused mainly by the widespread diffusion of generative artificial intelligence.
Smartphone brands are also having some problems, with attempts to offset the increases and the inevitable price hikes on the final price of devices (especially for certain configurations). The consequences also seem to be affecting models not yet on the market, such as the upcoming Xiaomi 17 Fold (or MIX Fold 5), the next foldable from Lei Jun’s company.
Xiaomi 17 Fold or MIX Fold 5: new clues about the specs, this time there are also price details
There is still some uncertainty about the name: the company would have decided to shelve the MIX series and pass the baton to its family of premium devices. So Xiaomi MIX Fold 5 should never see the light of day, or rather it could debut directly as Xiaomi 17 Fold.
Name aside, the foldable is expected to launch in July, or at least in Q3 2026 — in conjunction with Samsung’s new Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Z Flip 8. On board we should find XRING O3, a proprietary chipset developed by the Chinese company.
The latest whispers from Digital Chat Station speak of a foldable display of around 7.5-7.6" inches in diagonal, with a minimalist overall design (appearing to have a peculiar format) and a 200 MP main camera (perhaps a Samsung HP5 sensor). The phone would be powered by a 6,000 mAh battery, with support for wireless charging.
The chassis will be waterproof (IP68/IP69) while the fingerprint reader will be integrated on the side, according to the insider. Finally the leak also reveals the possible price: around 10,000 yuan (about €1,279 at the exchange rate), a steeper figure than the starting price for MIX Fold 4, which was 8,999 yuan.
Crisis effect: higher prices and the return of “old” configurations
We can safely attribute this to the memory crisis: major manufacturers have redirected the vast majority of memory to data centers for AI, reducing availability for the consumer market. The effects were not slow to appear: the rise in production costs has led to price hikes across various tech sectors (mobile included) and hardware trade-offs.
Looking at the smartphone market, we are seeing a massive reuse of 128 GB memories for storage and 6/8 GB for RAM.
