Huawei launches the Mate XT that folds into 3 parts to curb Chinese iPhone 16 ambitions
The new smartphone will arrive in the Chinese market and is likely to hamper Apple in its second largest market by sales, now dominated by local manufacturers
1' min read
1' min read
While Apple launches its new iPhone 16, with built-in artificial intelligence functions and available later this year in the US and later in other English-speaking countries, Huawei announces the arrival of the Mate XT in China, a smartphone capable of folding into three parts, while to date Samsung's and other Chinese manufacturers' foldable smartphones do so but in two parts.
The new phone will only come to the Chinese market, but the news is significant. Huawei, after the US ban, exited the European market and even in the Chinese market it did not particularly stand out. Things have changed in the past year, however. The Mate 60 Pro and Mate X5 in China have sold well and the company has reported double-digit growth in both revenue and profit.
The new Mate XT says the company already has 3.7 million pre-orders, a significant achievement in light of a $2,800 price tag.
Huawei's announcement comes at the same time as the iPhone to undermine Apple's Chinese ambitions, the Cupertino company's second largest market, worth 20% of sales. The technological cold war between the US and China, with cross bids to become more and more technologically independent, puts Apple in an increasingly difficult position in the country.
According to the latest Canalys data, the top five manufacturers in the country, according to second quarter sales figures, are Chinese. In order: Vivo, Oppo, Honor, Huawei, Xiaomi. Huawei is the market leader in China for foldable models, followed by Honor, its former subsidiary.
