The Huawei Mate XT starts at $3,660. The company has not announced which countries it will be available in, but it has told users to wait.

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Huawei Mate XT is the world's first tri-fold smartphone. Photo: Huawei

The smartphone will hit shelves in China in 2024 and is drawing attention as the world's first tri-fold phone. Conventional foldable smartphones can only fold horizontally or vertically. The Mate XT uses two hinges and can display content on one, two, or three screens.

Huawei was once the world’s largest smartphone maker, challenging Apple and Samsung in the high-end segment. However, the US embargo since 2019 has cut off access to advanced chips and Google’s Android operating system, causing its market share to plummet.

The brand has been virtually wiped out overseas as other brands scramble to fill the void. Huawei’s international smartphone market share has fallen to just 0.3%, according to data from research firm IDC.

But in its home country of China, the figure is expected to rise to 17% in 2024 from 12% in 2023, marking a dramatic comeback.

Huawei surprised the world by launching a smartphone with an advanced chip, despite the embargo. The company wants to continue this momentum abroad, focusing on the expensive segment.

Francisco Jeronimo, vice president of data and analytics at IDC, predicts the Mate XT won’t sell in large numbers and will be aimed at wealthy people who want to show off that they can spend a lot of money on a device. Still, if it can sell half a million units, it could generate $1.5 billion in revenue.

The Mate XT is also a test of Huawei's appeal outside China. The device does not use Google Android, the most popular mobile operating system, but uses its own self-developed platform and app store.

Neil Shah, a partner at research firm Counterpoint, pointed out that the absence of Google will be a “hole” for Huawei devices abroad, especially for those willing to spend a lot of money but still want to watch Netflix or run the latest Google Gemini chatbot.

(According to CNBC)