Huawei and Xiaomi launched new flagship foldable smartphones on Monday, September 7, stepping up competition in China’s premium handset market just days before Apple’s product launch scheduled for Wednesday, according to reports. Both Chinese tech companies timed their announcements to capture consumer attention and market momentum before Apple’s expected entry into the foldable device market.
Huawei and Xiaomi Unveil New Foldable Flagships
Huawei Expands Its Tri-Fold Dominance With the Mate XT2
Huawei introduced the Mate XT2 series, marking the third version of its popular tri-fold device that folds out twice into a tablet-sized screen. The device is powered by Huawei’s in-house Kirin 9050 Pro mobile chipset and incorporates a redesigned hinge, improved water resistance, and a privacy screen designed to prevent nearby individuals from viewing the display, as reported by the Indian Express. Huawei Executive Director Richard Yu addressed the financial pressures behind the hardware at a news conference, stating, 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,
according to NBC News.
The company’s new chip design utilizes an architecture called LogicFolding, which forms part of the Tau Scaling Law
principle introduced in May as Huawei attempts to overcome U.S.-imposed restrictions on access to advanced technology. Huawei stated that the architecture delivers greater computing power while using less electricity. The Mate XT2 lineup starts at 19,999 yuan (approximately $2,980), with top-end configurations reaching 24,999 yuan (approximately $3,725), with sales expected to begin on Saturday, NBC News noted.
Xiaomi Targets Apple With the Passport-Sized 18 Fold
At a separate event, Xiaomi debuted its most premium device to date, the Xiaomi 18 Fold. The phone utilizes a medium-fold solution that remains passport-sized when closed while supporting three applications side by side when opened, according to Insider Monkey. The handset runs on Xiaomi’s in-house XRing O3 AI processor and uses DRAM memory chips supplied by Chinese manufacturer CXMT, reported the Indian Express.
Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun highlighted the hardware’s competitive metrics, noting that the device weighs 219 grams and measures 5.02 millimeters thick when unfolded, making it lighter than Apple’s iPhone Pro Max, Reuters reported. Lei also asserted that the XRing O3 processor outperforms Apple’s A19 Pro in responsiveness, according to Insider Monkey. Addressing component expenses, Lei remarked, Nowadays, memory is very, very expensive. We don’t say it is cheap, but it is value for money,
Reuters noted. The Xiaomi 18 Fold is priced from 10,999 yuan ($1,540) to 14,999 yuan ($2,100), according to Reuters.
Market Share and Regional Positioning
Data from the consulting firm IDC cited by Reuters shows that Huawei led China’s overall smartphone market during the second quarter with a 22.6% share, ahead of Apple at 18.1%, while Xiaomi held 12.4%. Huawei’s dominance was even more pronounced in the foldable category, where research company Smart Analytics Global reported that Huawei accounted for 68% of Chinese shipments in the second quarter, according to Reuters. Meanwhile, South Korea’s Samsung Electronics remains the world’s largest overall foldable smartphone vendor, having launched a tri-fold device in December that was reportedly discontinued after three months, alongside a passport-sized foldable introduced in July, the Indian Express reported.
