2018 has been a great year for Xiaomi as the company launched a bundle of very popular smartphones including the Redmi Note 5 series, the Redmi 6 series, the Mi Mix 3, Mi 8, and many more devices. In fact, in India, the Redmi Note 5 Pro has been the best selling smartphone ever since its launch beginning this year. The company then launched its new sub-brand called Poco, and introduced the Poco F1 which has achieved several milestones. The Poco F1 now has a user base of 7 lakh and on account of that Xiaomi India has announced a price cut of Rs 1000 on all variants of the phone. After the price cut, the Poco F1 becomes the first Snapdragon 845 phone to be priced under Rs 20,000. Looks like, Xiaomi is looking out for more as new information of the company launching a new phone on December 24 comes out.

Xiaomi is reportedly planning to schedule a launch event anytime between December 17 and December 26. Rumours, however, claim that the company could be launching a new youth-focused smartphone on Christmas eve, which is on December 24. A teaser of the upcoming Xiaomi phone is making rounds on the Chinese microblogging site -- Weibo -- and it suggests that the new phone could be called Xiaomi Play. The company, however, is yet to reveal official details regarding the Xiaomi Play.

There's also no information whether it will be a Redmi or Mi phone. Some rumours suggest that the upcoming Xiaomi Play could be aimed at the younger generation audience or the gamers out there. Considering Xiaomi has recently launched the Black Shark Helo phone for the gamers, the upcoming Xiaomi phone could be an affordable gaming phone from the company. Rumours also suggest that with the upcoming Play phone, Xiaomi could be planning to take on the likes of Honor Play which also targets at the gamers looking out for a smooth functioning phone at an affordable price.

In addition, some other rumours suggest that the upcoming Xiaomi Play could be a rebranded Poco F1 and offer big of specs at a budget price tag. Looks like Xiaomi is already gearing up to make 2019 special. Last week, Xiaomi President Lin Bin recently shared an intriguing teaser image on the Chinese microblogging site - weibo -- revealing that a 48MP phone is in the making. In addition to the camera information, Bin also revealed that the 48MP Xiaomi phone will launch in January 2019.

Some previously leaked rumours suggest that the 48MP Xiaomi phone could actually be the Mi 9, but new reports leaked earlier this week now reveal that won't be the case. And the 48MP Xiaomi phone will instead be a part of the Redmi series. As far as the specs and features are concerned, the 48MP Xiaomi phone could come with LCD display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 chipset, glass back and thick bezels on the bottom.

As of now, not much is revealed about the 48MP Xiaomi Redmi phone, but ahead of the launch some rumours have already predicted the price of the phone. The smartphone is expected to be priced more than CNY 2,000, which roughly translates to Rs 21,000.