Smartphone cameras have advanced significantly over the years, yet they cannot match the quality of professional cameras. Co-engineering partnerships aim to bridge this gap by offering professional-grade experience in a compact form factor. At the Xiaomi 14 series launch, Ritesh Bendre, Global Content Manager at Counterpoint Research sat down with Pablo Noda, Head of Development and Product Engineering, Mobile, Leica Camera AG, and Anuj Sharma, Xiaomi India’s CMO, to talk about the extensive Xiaomi-Leica co-engineering partnership.

The Interview

Key takeaways from the discussion:

Co-engineering from concept to execution, miniaturization challenge:

• Leica and Xiaomi have collaborated on every aspect of the smartphone camera system, including lens co-design, sensor selection, and image signal processing (ISP) tuning.
• A thorough testing process is conducted to ensure that that final image quality meets Leica’s standards.
• Miniaturization is a big challenge when it comes to shrinking high-quality camera technology into a small smartphone form factor.
• Xiaomi and Leica engineers worked together to minimise the trade-offs like chromatic aberration on the lenses while maintaining Leica's quality standards.

Leica color science:

• Xiaomi phones come with two distinct color profiles: Leica vibrant and Leica authentic.
• Leica vibrant mode caters to social media users, authentic mode stays true to traditional photography with a focus on natural colors.
• For optimal results, both color profiles are tuned at the ISP level.

This co-engineering partnership benefits both brands:

• Leveraging Leica’s optical expertise, Xiaomi is able to elevate its camera capabilities.
• The camera differentiation strategy is helping Xiaomi attract new customers in the ultra-premium segment, while Leica gets access to a wider smartphone audience.

The role of AI in smartphone photography:

• While AI has great potential in various photography stages, both Xiaomi and Leica acknowledge that it must be used with a cautious approach.
• AI enhancements are valuable as long as they preserve image authenticity without introducing any artificial elements.
• Ultra zoom capability in the Xiaomi 14 Ultra is a good AI use case. The feature enhances that image and gets you closer to realism.

Analyst takeaways:

• Partnering with Leica has helped Xiaomi differentiate with great photography and videography experience on its flagship smartphones.
• However, Xiaomi is still finding it difficult to charge a premium on the brand image in the ultra-premium segment and need to do more on the marketing side to not only showcase the camera prowess, but also create more awareness among end users.
• Trickling down Leica-camera system to lower price tier smartphones, although with limited features, could be a good way to allow the target audience to get a taste of the Leica brand, and eventually drive upgrades.