New Mate XT, which users can fold three ways like an accordion screen door
China’s Huawei Technologies unveiled a US$2,800 tri-foldable phone as it seeks to extend its lead in the world’s biggest smartphone market and steal the spotlight from Apple hours after it debuted a new iPhone.
The Mate XT comes in red and black and has a 10.2 inch display screen. At 3.6mm wide, the company said it was the world’s slimmest foldable phone and has a keyboard attachment that fits in your pocket.
Prices start at 19,999 yuan (S$3,667) for 256 gigabytes, with versions with higher memory available for 21,999 yuan and 23,999 yuan.
The device has already received more than four million pre-orders, for which no deposit is required, according to the company’s website. The entire global market for foldable phones was around four million units in the second quarter, according to research firm IDC.
“Today we bring you a product that everyone can think of but could not make. Our team has been working hard for five years and has never given up,” Huawei executive director Richard Yu said at the launch.
“Today we will once again rewrite the history of the industry, turn science fiction into reality, and lead a new era of folding devices.”
The new phone boasts an AI assistant with text summary, translation and editing functions, as well as AI-boosted image editing functions such as trimming unwanted parts of photos, Yu said.
