China's Huawei introduces its response to the iPhone 16 from Apple. Nevertheless, the cost is high.

Just hours after Apple, its bitter rival, unveiled the iPhone 16, Huawei unveiled what it claims to be the world's first tri-fold smartphone on Tuesday. The well-planned launch created a lot of buzz for the Chinese tech giant.

With the release of hugely successful models like the Mate 60 Pro and Mate X5, the Shenzhen-based company, which has been a flashpoint in the growing tech rivalry between Washington and Beijing, is currently experiencing a spectacular comeback. Notwithstanding US sanctions, Huawei announced double-digit increases in profit and revenue in August.

Another sign of the company's ongoing recovery would be the Mate XT smartphone's successful sales. Since going up for pre-order online on Saturday, there have been over 3.7 million pre-orders. starting at 19,999 yuan ($2,800) for the base model.

During the livestreamed launch event, Richard Yu, the chairman of Huawei's consumer business, stated that the smartphone's development took five years and resulted in "breakthroughs" in screen and hinge technology.

"The Huawei Mate XT is the largest and thinnest foldable handset globally, and the first triple-fold smartphone in history," he declared. "We are the first to create an inward-folding phone without any gaps and the first to achieve outward folding in smartphones."

According to Yu, the phone has three panels that can be folded up to three times. It comes in red and black and has a 10.2-inch screen.

The product launch on Tuesday occurred just a few hours after rival Apple (AAPL) revealed a number of new offerings, the first of which was the iPhone 16, a smartphone designed specifically with generative artificial intelligence (AI) in mind. The company is hoping that this feature will persuade users to upgrade.

According to Amber Liu, research manager at market research firm Canalys, Apple's performance in China, its second-largest market and the source of more than 20% of its global shipments, is "directly challenged" by Huawei's quick recovery.

It also comes after, according to her, Chinese smartphone manufacturers for the first time ever controlled the top five domestic rankings on a quarterly basis, knocking Apple down to sixth place.

"A new competitive wave in the Chinese premium market is signaled by the close timing of Huawei and Apple's product launches," Liu told CNN. She continued, "High-end products, software capabilities, and AI deployment will be key areas of competition."

Apple claimed that users would be able to create text and images with natural-language prompts using generative AI on the iPhone 16, similar to ChatGPT. It's unclear what artificial intelligence capabilities the Mate XT has.

Large screen, expensive

According to Jene Park, a senior analyst at Counterpoint Research's smartphone foldables practice, the company is obviously concentrating on a bigger display and a longer battery life.

He continued, "I believe that the display size of book-type foldables, which currently ranges from 7 to 8 inches, could see significant changes as a result of this latest attempt."

The cost and accessibility of the phone will play a role in the launch's success, according to analysts. For those reasons, Liu thinks actual sales will be less than the quantity of pre-orders.

According to Yu's June statement, sales of Huawei's flagship smartphones increased 72% in the first five months of 2024 when compared to the same period the previous year, highlighting the company's determination to reclaim its position as a market leader in spite of stringent US restrictions.

Policymakers in the United States have long maintained that Huawei is a threat to national security because the Chinese government might snoop on people using the company's equipment. Even though the company refuted the accusations on multiple occasions, some US allies, including the UK, continued to restrict Huawei's involvement in the development of 5G networks.

Companies like Google (GOOGL) were unable to provide new Huawei devices with their version of the Android operating system due to the US ban. The Chinese company's goals for smartphones were severely damaged by those limitations at the time, with some analysts projecting that the Huawei phone would eventually become "a brick."

The business is currently rising to the top once more.It is also pursuing new business ventures. It introduced an electric sedan last year to compete with Tesla's Model S. It also has high goals for AI.

Huawei was ranked as a top rival by Nvidia (NVDA) earlier this year in a number of categories, including the manufacturing of processors that drive AI systems.