Huawei seems set to launch the world's first trifoldable phone. The launch is expected just hours after Apple unveils its rumored iPhone 16 lineup, in an apparent bid to overshadow its American rival.
While Huawei hasn't announced which devices will be unveiled, speculation is building that a trifoldable phone will be the star of the show. The device was seen in the hands of Richard Yu, the chairman of Huawei's consumer business group, in recent weeks.
On Tuesday, the company teased the launch of a Huawei Mate XT Ultimate Design, which many (including this writer) presume is the trifoldable phone in a post on Chinese microblogging site Weibo. The Mate series, one of two flagship phone lineups from Huawei, typically caters to early adopters and was the brand chosen by Huawei to launch its first-ever foldable phone, the Mate X, back in 2019.
Huawei announced its holding an event on Tuesday, Sept. 10 at 2:30 p.m. local time. That's 11:30 a.m.PT ( 2:30 p.m. ET) on Monday. Apple's event, dubbed "Glowtime", is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 9, at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET).
A Weibo social media post by the Whylab account (translated to English).
Whylab/Weibo/Screenshot by CNETOne analysts is taking the launch of a trifolding phone as good as a guaranteed.
"Huawei's strategic decision to launch its advanced tri-fold smartphone immediately following Apple's launch demonstrates a well-thought-out and astute move," Abhilash Kumar, analyst at TechInsights, said on Tuesday in a post on X, "A longer interval between the two launches could have resulted in a substantial number of consumers committing to the iPhone 16 series, making it less likely for them to consider Huawei's trifold device."
In the third quarter, Apple typically experiences a surge in sales due to new product launches, resulting in a significant increase in its market share in China, according to Kumar.
Tecno unveiled the Phantom Ultimate 2 in August 2024, a concept trifolding phone.
TecnoWe've seen triple-folding concept phones before. Samsung gave us a glimpse at trifold display concepts back in 2022 at CES. Prior to that, TCL showed a concept off in 2020. In August, fellow Chinese company Tecno took the wraps off its own trifolding concept. But none of them have been released or mass produced for commercial sales... until presumably next week.
The Mate XT will likely receive an initial release only in Huawei's native China, but it'll be thrilling to see a genuinely novel phone in the hands of consumers for the first time.
Watch this: We Tried TCL's New Foldable and Rollable Phone Concepts
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