Huawei and Xiaomi launched high-end foldable smartphones on Monday, intensifying competition in China’s premium handset market just days before Apple’s scheduled product event, according to Reuters. The simultaneous rollouts target a high-end segment where domestic manufacturers are pressing their advantages against foreign competitors.
Huawei Mate XT2 Debuts as a Tri-Fold Device
Huawei introduced the Mate XT2, a tri-fold device that opens from both sides into a tablet-sized screen, according to company statements. The smartphone features a redesigned hinge, enhanced dust and water resistance, and an integrated privacy screen designed to block sightlines from bystanders, according to company statements. Sales for the device begin on September 12, with prices starting at 19,999 yuan ($2,980) and scaling to 24,999 yuan ($3,725) for the top-end version, according to Reuters.
“Pricing right now is a real challenge, because memory costs have risen sharply. We adopted a lot of new technology, and the cost pressure has been enormous,” Huawei Executive Director Richard Yu said during a press conference. The Mate XT2 runs on a Kirin 9050 Pro chip utilizing an architecture called LogicFolding, which falls under Huawei’s “Tau Scaling Law” framework announced in May to advance domestic technology development amid U.S. export restrictions, according to Reuters.
Xiaomi 18 Fold Positions Itself Against Apple
At a separate event held on Monday, Xiaomi unveiled the Xiaomi 18 Fold, positioning the hardware as its most premium handset to date, according to Reuters. The handset measures 5.02 millimeters thick when unfolded and weighs 219 grams, making it lighter than Apple’s iPhone Pro Max, according to statements from Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun reported by Reuters.
The Xiaomi 18 Fold runs on the company’s in-house XRing O3 AI processor, which Lei Jun stated outperforms Apple’s A19 Pro in responsiveness, according to Reuters. The hardware utilizes DRAM memory chips supplied by Chinese manufacturer CXMT, according to NBC News reporting. Pricing for the Xiaomi 18 Fold ranges from 10,999 yuan ($1,540) to 14,999 yuan ($2,100), according to NBC News. “Nowadays, memory is very, very expensive. We don’t say it is cheap, but it is value for money,” Lei Jun said during the launch event, as reported by Reuters.
Market Dynamics in China Prior to Apple Event
The Monday product launches precede Apple’s Wednesday event, where the company is widely expected to reveal new iPhone models and potentially its first foldable device, according to Reuters. Domestic brands currently command substantial portions of the Chinese market. Huawei held a 22.6% share of China’s overall smartphone market in the second quarter, outpacing Apple’s 18.1%, while Xiaomi held a 12.4% share, according to data from consultancy IDC cited by Reuters. Within the foldable segment specifically, Huawei captured roughly 68% of all units shipped in China during the same quarter, according to figures from Smart Analytics Global. Samsung, the world’s largest overall vendor of foldable smartphones, launched three new Galaxy Z devices in July following an earlier tri-fold release in December that was reportedly discontinued after three months, according to the sources.
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