Huawei’s new trifold phone is hitting the global market for over $3,600
The Chinese tech company has struggled overseas under the weight of US sanctions.
Folding smartphones haven’t exactly exploded into the mainstream since the technology first emerged in 2018. While rumors of Apple first foray into the tech have unfolded — and folded back in on themselves — multiple times over the years, companies like Samsung have experimented in the space with some success.
For Chinese tech company Huawei, the hope seems to be that the public’s lukewarm reactions to the devices so far can be solved by throwing another fold into the mix, with the company announcing this week that the world’s first trifold model, the Mate XT, will be coming to markets outside of China soon.
Triple-double price
If you want to impress your friends with the novelty of unfolding your phone like a leaflet before you pick up, however, you’ll likely have to pay an eye-watering €3,499 (~$3,660) for the pleasure.
The tech giant is hoping that the ability to doomscroll across two or three screens with the largest and thinnest foldable phone on the market will help it win back international customers, having lost its share of the global market in the wake of US sanctions. Without access to the popular Android operating system, though, that might be difficult.
Importantly, however, Huawei is not just a smartphone maker. With watches, routers, electric vehicles, laptops, headphones, semiconductors, and much else besides, the scope of the business draws comparisons with other major tech “everything co.” conglomerates like Samsung. Still, there’s no denying that many consumers around the world think of Huawei as that company that used to make phones.
That reputation stems largely from sanctions placed on the business by the US government, which scuppered Huawei’s use of US-made tech like semiconductors or Google’s OS and ultimately led to a drop-off in global popularity for the brand’s smartphones.
In spite of its international decline, Huawei has been bouncing back in its home nation in recent years, where iPhone sales have started to slump. Revenues jumped 22% last year.
