Huawei introduces the new smartphone fondable in three

Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei has made a real breakthrough, practically on the day after Apple’s festival unveiling, with its new smartphone, intended to be a showcase for its technological expertise at a time when the United States continues to wage war against Chinese technology. In a delightful twist, the launch of the Mate XT Tri Fold came the day after the unveiling of the new iPhone 16s in California on Monday.

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But while Apple focuses on artificial intelligence, Huawei wants to stand out on hardware with this new smartphone that folds vertically into three, like an accordion or folding screen. On Weibo, the Chinese Twitter, the Mate XT was one of the most commented on Tuesday.
“We fought for this product for five years. We turned science fiction into reality and launched a new era for foldable smartphones,” said Richard Yu, head of Huawei’s consumer business, from his historic stronghold in Shenzhen, southern China.

A luxury product

In any case, the design is radically new. When folded, the Mate XT looks like a conventional smartphone. But when unfolded, the device becomes a tablet, with a 26-centimeter screen and a thickness of only 4 millimeters. According to Huawei, this makes it the “world’s largest and thinnest smartphone.”
The tablet then becomes a laptop computer thanks to the keyboard (also foldable) that hooks onto the screen. A “three-in-one” product that comes at a price: between 20,000 and 24,000 yuan depending on the version (or between 2,500 and 3,000 euros), making the Mate XT Tri Fold one of the most expensive smartphones ever designed by Huawei.
Communication was worthy of a luxury product, with commercials featuring Andy Lau and Yang Mi, two Chinese and Hong Kong movie stars, as well as former table tennis player Xu Xin, extolling the virtues of the new smartphone.

At these prices, the Mate XT is likely to remain a niche product at a time when Chinese household consumption is weakening against the backdrop of the economic slowdown. Huawei did not provide any targets on Tuesday. Nevertheless, the group believes in its good fortune. According to IDC, China’s smartphone market has grown for three consecutive quarters. And foldable devices are the fastest-growing segment, with nearly 50 percent growth in the first quarter, according to Canalys.

The success of local brands

Above all, Huawei has continued to gain ground, thanks to its innovations and the support of Chinese consumers, who are increasingly turning to local brands. In one year, its market share in China, all models combined, rose from 13 percent to 18 percent in the second quarter, making it the number two local brand (behind Vivo), according to IDC.

For the first time in four years, the top five smartphone vendors in China are all Chinese. Apple dropped to sixth place, with 14 percent of the market compared to 16 percent last year, according to Canalys.

In this context, Huawei’s Mate XT looks even more like a match. “We used to be number one in the world, but after four rounds of sanctions, we fell down. That’s where we are today,” said Richard Yu, referring to the U.S. sanctions that cut him off from his U.S. suppliers and decreased his market share in Europe.