Huawei’s website showed on Tuesday that it had racked up more than 3.3 million pre-orders. (Photo: Shutterstock)
China’s Huawei Technologies Co. unveiled a three-way foldable phone on Tuesday as it seeks to extend its lead over Apple in the world’s largest smartphone market with a new form factor that has gained popularity in the Chinese market.
Just hours after Apple unveiled its latest iPhone model, Huawei is holding a launch event for the new Z-shaped smartphone, the Mate XT, which was on display at its major e-commerce stores in mainland China a day earlier.
Huawei’s website showed on Tuesday that it had secured more than 3.3 million pre-orders, for which no deposit is required, for the new smartphone.
By comparison, the entire global foldable phone market was around 4 million units in the second quarter, according to research firm IDC.
The latest launch, which follows a string of successful smartphone debuts since last year, underscores Huawei’s ability to circumvent US sanctions and cements its position against Apple in China.
Huawei already has two-way foldable phones in its lineup, and strong sales in China helped it overtake Samsung Electronics this year as the largest supplier of such phones globally.
But the high price and limited numbers will likely make the new model more of a symbol of Huawei’s technological prowess than a major sales driver, analysts said.
“Huawei’s upcoming products are not expected to significantly impact Samsung and Apple’s businesses in terms of product volume,” said Jene Park, an analyst at research firm Counterpoint.
“There is a limit to the amount of products supplied.
However, there could be some impact on sales in certain Chinese markets.”
The foldable smartphone market grew 57 percent year-on-year in the second quarter with 3.9 million units shipped, largely due to Chinese smartphone makers entering overseas markets, according to consultancy IDC.
That still represents just 1.3 percent of the overall smartphone market, with 292.2 million smartphones shipped in the second quarter, IDC said.
“The average consumer still has limited knowledge about them, not to mention the benefits and value of the products,” said Will Wong, a senior researcher at IDC.
The high prices of these models remain another obstacle. While the price of the new model is unknown, last year’s Mate X5 still sells for more than 10,000 yuan ($1,406) in the domestic market, almost double that of a new iPhone 15.
Overcoming issues such as screen wrinkles and reduced durability due to the use of more hinges will also be important for the increased use of foldable devices, Park said.
Huawei ranked as the world’s largest vendor of foldable smartphones in the second quarter with a 27.5 percent market share, ahead of South Korea’s Samsung with 16.4 percent, according to IDC.
That share rises to 42 percent in China’s domestic market, ahead of Vivo and Huawei’s former unit Honor, which was spun off under pressure from U.S. sanctions in 2020.
In the broader smartphone market in China, Apple’s ranking fell from third to sixth place in the second quarter, while Huawei emerged as the third-largest vendor thanks to strong sales of its latest smartphones.
First published: September 10, 2024 | 9:17 am IS
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