China's Huawei Technologies Co. unveiled a $2,800 tri-fold phone on Tuesday, aiming to widen its lead in the world's biggest smartphone market and steal attention from Apple Inc. just hours after it unveiled a new iPhone.
The Chinese tech giant unveiled the new Mate XT, which can fold in three ways like an accordion screen door, at a launch ceremony in the southern tech hub of Shenzhen.
According to the company's website, the device has already received more than 4 million pre-orders, with no deposit required.
According to research firm IDC, the global market for flip phones was about 4 million units in the second quarter.
“Today we are delivering a product that no one could have conceived but built. Our team has been working hard for five years and we have never given up,” Huawei executive director Richard Yu said at the launch.
“Today, we are once again rewriting industry history, turning science fiction into reality and ushering in a new era of foldable devices.”
According to Yu, the new phone will feature an AI assistant with text summarization, translation and editing capabilities, as well as AI-powered image editing features such as cropping unwanted parts of photos.
The AI capabilities are supported by Huawei's homegrown Kylin chip, he added.
The much-anticipated launch comes just hours after Apple unveiled its latest model, the AI-powered iPhone 16, with both smartphones scheduled to go on sale on September 20.
The Mate XT comes in two colours – Red and Black, and has a 10.2-inch display screen.
The company claims that it is the world's thinnest flip phone, measuring just 3.6mm wide, and has a keyboard attachment that fits in your pocket.
Prices start at 19,999 yuan ($2,800) for 256GB, with versions with higher memory priced at 21,999 yuan and 23,999 yuan.
Apple's AI Challenge
The announcement, following a string of successful smartphones, underscores Huawei's ability to weather U.S. sanctions and strengthens its position against Apple in China, where some consumers have criticized the new iPhone 16 for lacking AI capabilities.
Apple has yet to announce its AI partners in China for the 16s, and its AI software, Apple Intelligence, will only be available in Chinese next year.
“What's the point of buying it if you can't use AI?” wrote one user on Weibo, a Chinese X-like platform. Another commented: “If AI isn't the biggest selling point, I'd rather have it for half the price.”
Apple shares fell less than 1% on Tuesday.
For years Apple enjoyed robust demand in China, where the launch of a new iPhone once sparked frenzy, but sales have fallen and the company has dropped from third to sixth in the world's second-largest economy.
Huawei defied U.S. sanctions that cut off its access to global chipset supply chains last year and returned to the high-end smartphone sector by launching devices with domestically made chips. The launch of the Mate 60 Pro surprised analysts and U.S. officials.
Huawei already has a lineup of double-sided flip phones, and strong sales in China helped it overtake Samsung Electronics Co. this year to become the world's largest seller of flip phones.
But with a starting price of $2,800 — more than double the starting price of the comparable iPhone 16 Pro Max — and limited production numbers, the tri-fold phone is more likely to become a symbol of Huawei's technological prowess than a sales highlight, analysts say.
“Due to production constraints and high prices, the new phones are unlikely to have a significant impact on shipments,” said Will Wong, a senior researcher at consultancy IDC.
“But it does signal to consumers that the company remains a technology leader, and that the potential threat it poses to Apple may go far beyond just market share.”
According to IDC, the foldable smartphone market grew 57% year-over-year to 3.9 million units shipped in the second quarter, mainly due to Chinese smartphone makers expanding into overseas markets.
According to IDC, smartphone shipments in the second quarter totaled 292.2 million units, just 1.3% of the total smartphone market.
Huawei became the world's largest seller of foldable smartphones, capturing 27.5% market share in the second quarter, ahead of South Korea's Samsung's 16.4%, according to IDC.
Its share of the domestic Chinese market rose to 42%, surpassing Vivo and Huawei's former subsidiary Honor, which was spun off in 2020 under pressure from U.S. sanctions.
