Huawei unveiled its newest smartphone, the Mate XT, on Tuesday. It is the world’s first tri-folding phone, Reuters reports, and Huawei executive director Richard Yu says its launch ushers in “a new era of folding devices.”
The Mate XT has a 10.2 inch display screen, with a depth of just 3.6mm, and comes with a portable keyboard attachment. Prices start at 19,999 yuan (US$2,800) for 256 gigabytes of memory. The Mate XT’s AI functions are supported by Huawei’s in-house Kylin chips.
Its unveiling came just hours after Apple introduced its iPhone 16, and has been viewed as a challenge to Apple in the massive Chinese market. The new iPhone’s artificial intelligence (AI) features won’t be immediately available in China – or in Chinese – leading some potential buyers to express their preference for Huawei’s option.
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“What’s the point of buying [the iPhone 16] if you can’t use AI?” wrote one user on the microblogging platform Weibo – even though it starts at a significantly cheaper US$999 base price.
Both new phones are set to retail from 20 September, but analysts have predicted that the Mate XT’s hefty price tag will limit its sales. It’s being viewed more as a signal of Huawai’s technological prowess than a major money spinner. “[Huawei is] telling the consumers that it’s still the tech leader and the potential challenge it brings to Apple may be far beyond just market share,” Will Wong, a senior researcher at consultancy IDC, told Reuters.
Huawei ranked as the world’s biggest foldable smartphone seller in the second quarter of 2024, with a 27.5 percent market share, according to IDC. Samsung ranked second. Apple has yet to release a foldable iPhone, though its first clamshell-style device – known as the V68 – could be on the market as early as next year, according to reports.
