Five days before Apple's scheduled reveal of the iPhone 17, Huawei stepped onto the stage in Shenzhen with the Mate XTs — its second trifold smartphone — a gesture that speaks less to product launches and more to the ancient rhythm of empires staking their ground. Built on homegrown silicon and a proprietary operating system born of necessity after US sanctions, the device represents not merely a phone but a declaration: that constraint, met with ingenuity, can become its own kind of advantage. In a foldable market where Huawei stands alone as the only vendor actually shipping three-screen dev
Huawei launches affordable trifold phone ahead of Apple's iPhone 17 reveal
Huawei is already there when Apple arrives.
Mark
Why does Huawei launch this phone five days before Apple's event? Is that really strategic, or just coincidence?
Mimi
It's strategic. Huawei wants to own the conversation around foldables before Apple enters the space. They're saying: we've already solved this, we're shipping half a million units, we own three-quarters of the Chinese market. When Apple shows up, Huawei is already there.
Luke
But that assumes the Chinese market is the only market that matters. Outside China, foldables are still niche. We don't know how many Mate XTs Huawei will sell globally, or whether the price cut actually drives volume.
Mimi
Fair point. But within China, the numbers are real. 500,000 units in six months, 75 percent market share. That's not niche.
Mark
What about the software side—this idea of running desktop apps on the phone? Is that actually useful, or marketing?
Mimi
It's both. WPS and Wind are real tools people use in China. If you can run them on a 10-inch screen, that changes how you work. It's not just a bigger phone anymore.
Luke
But we're only hearing about two apps. We don't know how many desktop applications actually work, or how well they work. The claim is bold; the evidence is thin.
Mark
And HarmonyOS—14 million users. Is that growing fast enough to matter?
Mimi
It's growing, but it's still small compared to Android or iOS globally. The real question is whether it can hold users outside China, where Google and Apple have deep roots.
Luke
Exactly. HarmonyOS works in China because Huawei has no choice and because the government supports it. Elsewhere, it's a harder sell. We should be careful not to overstate its momentum.
Mark
So when Apple launches its foldable next year, what happens?
Mimi
Huawei loses its monopoly on trifolds. But it keeps its installed base, its supply chain expertise, and its market share in China. Apple will compete, but Huawei won't disappear.
Luke
And if Apple's foldable is better, or cheaper, or both? Then Huawei's lead evaporates fast. We're talking about a market that barely exists outside China. One strong product from Apple could reshape everything.
Le Pouls
- Huawei launched the Mate XTs in Shenzhen on Thursday, deliberately timed five days before Apple's iPhone 17 event — a calculated act of market theater designed to dominate the conversation before a rival can speak.
- The device offers 36% better performance than its predecessor, a 10.2-inch fully opened display, and desktop application support, pushing the trifold form factor closer to a genuine portable computer than a novelty.
- Priced at 17,999 yuan — roughly 81,000 baht and 2,000 yuan cheaper than the equivalent previous model — Huawei is signaling that it intends to grow the trifold market, not just defend a luxury niche.
- With 75% of China's foldable market and nearly 500,000 Mate XT units shipped in the first half of 2025, Huawei holds a commanding position that Samsung, Xiaomi, and Honor have so far only answered with patents and concept renders.
- Apple is expected to enter the foldable segment next year, but it will not be pioneering new territory — it will be walking into a market Huawei has already shaped, priced, and populated with loyal customers.
Five days before Apple's scheduled reveal of the iPhone 17, Huawei stepped onto the stage in Shenzhen with the Mate XTs — its second trifold smartphone — a gesture that speaks less to product launches and more to the ancient rhythm of empires staking their ground. Built on homegrown silicon and a proprietary operating system born of necessity after US sanctions, the device represents not merely a phone but a declaration: that constraint, met with ingenuity, can become its own kind of advantage. In a foldable market where Huawei stands alone as the only vendor actually shipping three-screen devices at scale, the question is no longer whether the technology works — it is who will arrive next, and how much ground they will have to reclaim.
Huawei moved first. On Thursday in Shenzhen, the company unveiled the Mate XTs — its second trifold smartphone — arriving just five days before Apple takes the stage for the iPhone 17 reveal. The timing is deliberate, a statement of momentum from a company that, for now, has no real rival in the three-screen foldable space.
The Mate XTs runs on Huawei's Kirin 9020 chip and HarmonyOS, the proprietary operating system the company built after US sanctions severed its access to Android. It delivers 36 percent better performance than its predecessor, unfolds to a 10.2-inch display, and weighs 298 grams — identical to the model it replaces. The 256-gigabyte version starts at 17,999 yuan, or roughly 81,000 baht, with higher storage tiers each priced about 2,000 yuan below their Mate XT equivalents. The phone ships with the new M-Pen 3 stylus, and presales opened Thursday evening.
What distinguishes the Mate XTs beyond its hardware is a quiet but meaningful shift in ambition: for the first time, Huawei allows users to install desktop applications directly on the device — including a Microsoft Office alternative and a local Bloomberg Terminal competitor. The company is no longer positioning the trifold as a large-screen phone. It is positioning it as a portable computer.
The numbers support Huawei's confidence. HarmonyOS 5 has drawn 14 million users, and the original Mate XT moved nearly 500,000 units in the first half of 2025, giving Huawei 75 percent of China's foldable market — a 32-percentage-point gain year over year. Samsung has shown trifold concepts at trade shows but has not shipped one. Xiaomi and Honor have filed patents but nothing more. Huawei is alone in actually selling these devices at scale.
That advantage has a horizon. Apple is widely expected to introduce its first foldable iPhone next year, entering a segment it did not build but will inevitably reshape. When it does, it will not find an open field — it will find a market Huawei has already defined, priced, and filled with customers who know exactly what a trifold phone can do.
Huawei has moved first. On Thursday in Shenzhen, the company unveiled the Mate XTs, its second trifold smartphone, arriving just five days before Apple takes the stage to introduce the iPhone 17 lineup. The timing is deliberate—a statement of momentum in a market where Huawei remains, for now, alone.
The Mate XTs runs on Huawei's own Kirin 9020 chip and HarmonyOS, the company's proprietary operating system built after US sanctions cut it off from Android. Richard Yu Chengdong, who leads Huawei's consumer division, announced during the launch that the new phone delivers 36 percent better performance than its predecessor. The device folds three times, with screens ranging from 3.6 millimeters to 4.75 millimeters thick, expanding to a 10.2-inch display when fully opened. It weighs 298 grams—the same as the model it replaces. The 256-gigabyte version starts at 17,999 yuan, or roughly 81,000 baht. Higher storage tiers cost 19,999 yuan and 21,999 yuan, each about 2,000 yuan cheaper than the equivalent Mate XT. The phone comes in four colors and ships with the new M-Pen 3 stylus for navigation, note-taking, and sketching. Presales began Thursday evening, with first deliveries expected the following Friday.
What sets the Mate XTs apart is not just the hardware. For the first time, Huawei has enabled users to install desktop applications directly on the phone. That includes the Chinese version of WPS—a Microsoft Office alternative—and Wind, a local Bloomberg Terminal competitor. It is a small but significant move: treating the foldable not as a phone that happens to have a large screen, but as a genuine portable computer.
HarmonyOS 5, the latest iteration of Huawei's ecosystem, has attracted 14 million users. The number matters because it signals that Huawei's alternative to Google's Android is gaining traction, at least within China. The company shipped nearly 500,000 units of the original Mate XT in the first half of 2025, capturing 75 percent of China's foldable phone market—a jump of 32 percentage points from the year before, according to IDC research.
Huawei's confidence in trifolds is understandable. Samsung has shown concept versions of its Flex G and Flex S at Mobile World Congress but has not launched them. Xiaomi and Honor, a Huawei spinoff, filed design patents years ago but have not brought products to market. Huawei is the only vendor actually selling a three-screen foldable phone, and it is selling them in volume.
Yet the competitive landscape is shifting. Apple is widely expected to introduce its first foldable iPhone next year, followed by a curved-glass model in 2027 to mark the product's twentieth anniversary. IDC forecasts a 1.9 percent decline in iPhone shipments within China this year, driven by competition from Huawei and a broader economic slowdown. Apple did report sales growth in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan in the June quarter, buoyed by government consumer subsidies, but that momentum appears fragile.
The Mate XTs launch five days before Apple's event is not coincidence. Huawei is signaling that it has already solved the trifold problem—that it has a product in customers' hands, a market share to defend, and a roadmap that extends beyond the next quarterly earnings call. When Apple finally enters the foldable market, it will not be entering an empty space. It will be entering Huawei's market, where the company has already learned what works, what breaks, and what customers will pay.
Citations marquantes
The Mate XTs delivers 36 percent better performance than its predecessor— Richard Yu Chengdong, chairman of Huawei's consumer business group
IDC forecasts a 1.9% decline in iPhone shipments in China this year owing to competition from Huawei and economic slowdown— IDC research
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