Samsung could end up being the only company still selling an Ultra phone you can walk into a shop and buy.
That’s where this is heading. Tipster Kartikey Singh posted on X on August 15 that Xiaomi has scrapped the Ultra from its next flagship series, so instead of the usual four phones we get three: the Xiaomi 18, the 18 Pro and the 18 Pro Max.
The reason is boring, and it’s money. DRAM and NAND prices have shot up through 2026 as AI demand eats into supply, and packing Ultra-grade hardware like a 200MP quad camera into a phone that’s already expensive stopped making sense at the till.
Now the part that stings if you don’t live in China. Singh also claims Oppo and vivo will keep the Find X10 Ultra and the X500 Ultra at home when they arrive in the first half of 2027. Their current models, the Find X9 Ultra and the X300 Ultra, both went global this year, and those two were the first in their lines to get a proper worldwide release. One generation of open doors, then shut again. Which would leave the Galaxy S27 Ultra as the only real Ultra flagship on sale outside China.
It isn’t permanent, supposedly. Xiaomi is expected to bring the badge back with a 19 Ultra in late 2027 or early 2028, once component prices calm down. And the 18 Pro Max is shaping up to be the Ultra in everything except the name.
Usual warning applies. None of the three companies has confirmed any of this, and plans this far out change all the time.
