Huawei is in the midst of a spectacular comeback having launched wildly popular models like the Mate 60 Pro and Mate X5. In August, Huawei reported double digit jumps in both revenue and profit.
What is being released is a the Mate XT tri-fold smartphone, which began pre-orders on Saturday and already appears set to give Jobs’ Mob’s pedestrian efforts a good kicking.
Richard Yu, the chairman of the group’s consumer business said the new phone was an epoch-making product that others have only dreamed of but couldn’t achieve.
“After five years of dedication and investment, we’re making science fiction a reality. Stay tuned for Huawei’s masterpiece!”
Tuesday’s product launch will come just hours after arch-rival Apple unveiled a slew of new products which received bucket loads of free advertising from the US press.
However, Amber Liu, research manager at market research firm Canalys, said Huawei’s rapid recovery “directly challenges” Apple’s performance in China, its second-largest market which accounts for over 20 per cent of its global shipments.
It also comes after Chinese smartphone makers dominated the top five spots domestically on a quarterly basis for the first time ever, she said, pushing Apple to sixth place.
Jene Park, a senior analyst at the smartphone foldables practice at Counterpoint Research, said the rumored new phone is believed to have a double folding structure and a large display size of over 10 inches.
“I think this latest attempt could bring about significant changes in the display size of book-type foldables, which currently range from seven inches to eight inches,” he said.
The Tame Apple Press complains that the phone is too expensive and they do have a point if you compair it to the iPhone. The Huawei Mate XT tri-fold smartphone is priced between 19,999 yuan (approximately $2,809) and 23,999 yuan (approximately $3,371), depending on the storage. But since more than three million already have it on pre-order this does not appear to be the case as it provides something Jobs Mob does not -- inovation.