When China-based Xiaomi announced a number of new devices recently, fans were quick to expect a new follow-up to the company's successful Mi line of smartphones. However, other than the Mi Pad 2 and the new Redmi Note 3, the much-awaited successor to the Mi 4 did not materialize.

New speculations say the appearance of the Mi 5 will happen soon. According to rumors, the new Xiaomi flagship will be seen as early as January next year.

In a recent report,  IBTimes mentioned that according to a Chinese analyst, the new Mi 5 will most likely be announced by January 2016 and will be made available for the global markets by the month after. This places the official rollout of the Mi 5 iteration by February.

Although Chinese analyst Pan Jiutang did not divulge his sources or any confirmed details that support his prediction, observers say there might be some truth to his analysis, as Jiutang has been known to correctly predict China-based company decisions. His recent analyses included Google tapping Huawei to come out with the Nexus 6P.

Meanwhile, when the company launched its new flagship devices, observers and fans asked Xiaomi about details on the Mi 5. While keeping confirmed details tightly under wraps, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun indirectly teased the device, saying that while the release date may or may not be sooner than they think, the Mi 5 is "worth waiting for," and that the new flagship iteration is "really, really good." This led Phone Arena to believe the speculations that one of the features rumored to be in the upcoming Mi 5 is an all-new, all-powerful Snapdragon 820 processor. If the rumors are proven true, the Xiaomi Mi 5 will join a number of next-gen flagships that will carry the new chipset, like the rumored Samsung Galaxy S7 variant.