On a Monday in early September, Huawei unveiled its third tri-fold phone, the Mate XT 2, and set its Chinese release for the following week, just before Apple's expected reveal of its first foldable iPhone. The launch is more than a race for attention: it shows two Chinese manufacturers now shipping flagship foldables on silicon they design themselves, a result that export controls were meant to prevent and that has instead been slower rather than closed. Apple arrives later, as it often does, with a more polished entry whose ultimate reception remains to be seen.
Huawei's Mate XT 2 tri-fold lands two days before Apple's foldable, on China-made silicon
Slower path to competitive parts, not no path at all
Mark
Why does a phone launch two days early deserve this much attention?
Mimi
Because of what's inside it. The Mate XT 2 runs a Kirin 9050 Pro on Huawei's own newer process, a chip the company wasn't supposed to be able to make after being cut off from advanced foundries.
Mark
And Xiaomi is part of the same picture?
Mimi
Yes. Its 18 Fold uses the in-house Xring O3, at around 8,999 yuan. Two companies, two domestic chips, both in flagship foldables.
Luke
Worth being careful there. The piece says Huawei's process is newer and in-house, but it gives no performance figures. We don't know how the Kirin 9050 Pro compares with rival chips.
Mark
So the significance is that it exists, not that it wins?
Mimi
Mostly, yes. The controls produced a slower path to competitive parts, not no path.
Mark
What about Apple's side?
Luke
Nearly all of it is unconfirmed. The 7.8-inch inner screen, the 5.3-inch cover display, no telephoto, Touch ID, a price above $2,000 are all reporting, not announcement.
Mimi
And the price gap is the sharp part: roughly double what Xiaomi charges in China, if the reporting holds.
Mark
Does Huawei really threaten Apple, then?
Mimi
Only in China, since its phones lack Google services and can't sell meaningfully in Europe or the US. But China is where Apple is under pressure.
Luke
And Huawei hasn't published Mate XT 2 pricing beyond Chinese pre-order configurations, so the comparison is incomplete.
Der Puls
- Huawei has placed its newest tri-fold in buyers' hands days before Apple speaks, turning the calendar itself into a contest.
- Export restrictions were designed to stall China's chipmakers, yet a Kirin 9050 Pro built on a newer in-house process now sits inside the Mate XT 2.
- Xiaomi's 18 Fold, running its own Xring O3, suggests the domestic chip push is spreading beyond a single company.
- Apple's foldable, reportedly above $2,000, remains unconfirmed, and its hinge crease is the detail everyone will be watching on Wednesday.
On a Monday in early September, Huawei unveiled its third tri-fold phone, the Mate XT 2, and set its Chinese release for the following week, just before Apple's expected reveal of its first foldable iPhone. The launch is more than a race for attention: it shows two Chinese manufacturers now shipping flagship foldables on silicon they design themselves, a result that export controls were meant to prevent and that has instead been slower rather than closed. Apple arrives later, as it often does, with a more polished entry whose ultimate reception remains to be seen.
Huawei unveiled the Mate XT 2 on Monday, its third tri-fold phone, with a China release set for 10 September. The timing is deliberate: Apple's event on 9 September is expected to show its first foldable iPhone, and Huawei has put its hardware in front of buyers before Apple has said a word.
The phone opens to a 10.2-inch display, carries a battery above 6,000mAh, and has a redesigned hinge meant to soften the crease that has followed every folding screen. But the chip matters more than the fold. The Kirin 9050 Pro is built on a newer in-house process, a part Huawei was not supposed to be able to make after Washington cut it off from advanced foundries.
Xiaomi is moving in the same direction. Its 18 Fold runs the proprietary Xring O3 with LPDDR6 memory, a 7.6-inch folding display, and a 200MP camera, at around 8,999 yuan. Two Chinese makers shipping flagship foldables on domestic silicon is the story beneath the launch calendar.
Apple's device, by reported specifications, looks like a first generation by comparison: a 7.8-inch inner screen, a 5.3-inch cover display, no telephoto lens, and Touch ID in the power button. The expected price is above $2,000. Apple has often arrived late and polished, but foldables are harder, since seven years of iteration have given rivals manufacturing knowledge a first attempt cannot shortcut.
Huawei's real constraint is distribution, since its phones lack Google services and stay out of Europe and the US in meaningful volume. The contest with Apple is therefore fought inside China. Several things remain unconfirmed, including Apple's specifications and Huawei's pricing beyond Chinese pre-orders. The detail to watch on Wednesday is the crease, which no folding phone has yet eliminated.
Huawei unveiled the Mate XT 2 on Monday, its third tri-folding phone, and set its China release for 10 September. The timing is deliberate. Apple's event is on 9 September, where it is expected to show its first foldable iPhone, so Huawei has put its newest hardware in front of buyers before Apple has said a word.
The Mate XT 2 opens to a 10.2-inch display and carries a battery above 6,000mAh. Huawei has also redesigned the hinge, aiming to soften the crease that has followed every folding screen since the format appeared. This is a third-generation tri-fold, not a first attempt.
The chip matters more than the fold. The phone runs a Kirin 9050 Pro, built on Huawei's own newer process. That is a part the company was not supposed to be able to make after Washington cut it off from advanced foundries.
Xiaomi is doing something similar. Its 18 Fold runs the company's proprietary Xring O3 with LPDDR6 memory, and it has a 7.6-inch folding display, a 200MP main camera and 67W wired charging. The price is around 8,999 yuan. Xiaomi has been building its chip capability in public, including a custom 3nm chip for intelligent driving. Two Chinese manufacturers shipping flagship foldables on domestically designed silicon is the story underneath the launch calendar.
The export controls were meant to prevent this. They reshaped the equipment trade and pushed Chinese chip design toward custom silicon on the process nodes available domestically. The result has been a slower route to competitive parts, not a closed one. Huawei has kept pushing on research as well: its chip lead recently set out a scaling law of her own, which is not what a company that feels boxed in tends to do.
Apple's device looks like a first-generation product by comparison. Reporting on the expected specifications describes a 7.8-inch inner screen and a 5.3-inch cover display, with no telephoto lens and Touch ID in the power button instead of Face ID. Those omissions are the cost of thinness. The price is expected to be above $2,000, roughly twice what Xiaomi charges in China. Apple has done this before: it was late to large screens, 5G and stylus support, and each time arrived with a more polished version and still took the profitable end of the market. Foldables are a harder case. The format has existed since 2019, the mechanical problems are well understood, and companies iterating for seven years have manufacturing knowledge a first attempt cannot shortcut.
Huawei's constraint is distribution, not engineering. Its phones ship without Google services, which keeps them out of Europe and the United States in any meaningful volume, so the Mate XT 2 competes with Apple only inside China. That is still the market both companies care about most. Apple's share there has been under sustained pressure from domestic premium phones, and a tri-fold launched two days early is aimed squarely at it. European buyers get the format without the contest: they will choose between Samsung and Apple while the most aggressive foldable engineering happens in a market they cannot buy from.
Several things remain unconfirmed. Huawei has not published Mate XT 2 pricing beyond its Chinese pre-order configurations, and Apple's foldable is still unannounced, so every specification attributed to it is reporting, not fact. The detail to watch on Wednesday is the crease. Seven years of engineering have not removed it from any folding phone, and Apple has built a reputation on not shipping a compromise that visible.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
Apple's foldable remains unannounced, so every specification attributed to it is reporting rather than fact.— TNW analysis
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