Huawei Gets Over 2.7 Million Pre-Orders For Tri-fold Phone Ahead Of iPhone 16 Launch

Huawei revealed that its new tri-fold smartphone, Mate XT, received more than 2.7 million pre-orders, ahead of the planned iPhone 16 launch in Beijing on Tuesday morning.

Consumers welcomed the company's unique tri-fold smartphone with open arms considering that the company only announced about the unit's pre-order midday of Saturday.

Previously, the Chinese company made an announcement about launching a new product on Tuesday at 2:30 pm. Based on the company's announcement, there was no mention of the exact product that it sets to launch hours after Apple's iPhone 16 launch, CNBC reported.

However, Huawei's consumer and automotive technology group head, Richard Yu, said that it would be "leading, innovative, and disruptive," leaving consumers wondering about the product.

Yu also said that that the company "turned science fiction into reality."

According to Canalys, a leading global technology market analyst firm, Apple was not able to maintain its position in the top five smartphone vendors in China in the second quarter. It noted that it was actually the first time that local brands retained the five spots.

"It is the first quarter in history that domestic vendors dominate all the top five positions," added Canalys Research Analyst Lucas Zhong. "Chinese vendors' strategies for high-end products and their deep collaboration with local supply chains are starting to pay off in hardware and software features.

The Canalys report, which was released in July, said that Vivo reclaimed the number one spot by shipping 13.1 million units, capturing a 19% market share. This growth, a 15% increase over the previous year, was driven by strong performance in offline channels and robust online sales during the "618" e-commerce festival.

Oppo came in second, followed by HONOR in third, with Huawei in fourth place, and Xiaomi in the fifth spot.

Huawei shipped 10.6 million smartphones. Data on Apple on the second quarter was not unveiled since the firm only gives data on the top five vendors.

"Apple ranked sixth with a market share of 14%, a decrease of 2% from the second quarter of the previous year," the analysis stated.

Huawei is already selling flip and folding phones, and also other Chinese brands. However, Apple still needs to venture into those kinds of smartphones.

In China, local brands such as Huawei, HONOR, OPPO, and vivo are taking market share from Apple by incorporating technologies such as GenAI into products and services. In this scenario, the localization of Apple's Intelligence services in mainland China will be crucial in the next 12 months.