Huawei Launches New Foldable Smartphone as Xiaomi and Apple Prepare to Follow With Their Own Foldable Phones
China’s premium smartphone market is about to see three of the industry’s biggest names go head to head in the same week, and Huawei made the opening move. On Monday, the company unveiled the Mate XT2, the latest version of its ultra-premium tri-fold device, at an event in Guangzhou, positioning itself to defend its lead in China’s foldable phone segment just as Xiaomi and Apple prepare to enter the same conversation with launches of their own.
The Mate XT2 builds on the original Mate XT that Huawei released two years ago, and it’s a genuinely ambitious piece of engineering. The device folds outward twice, transforming from a standard smartphone form factor into a tablet-sized display, a mechanism Huawei describes as its most complex folding design to date. Rather than sticking with the Z-shaped folding pattern used in the previous generation, the Mate XT2 shifts to a different structural approach that pairs a foldable main display with a separate rear cover screen, giving users a way to check notifications or take quick actions without unfolding the entire device.
Powering the Mate XT2 is Huawei’s new Kirin 9050 Pro chip, built on what the company calls its LogicFolding chip design philosophy, a new architectural approach the company says allows it to push more computing performance out of the silicon while consuming less electricity. That efficiency angle isn’t just a marketing point. Huawei has spent years navigating U.S. export restrictions that cut off its access to the most advanced chipmaking processes available to rivals like Apple and Qualcomm, and squeezing more performance per watt out of a domestically developed chip design has become one of the company’s central strategies for staying competitive despite that handicap. The device also reportedly offers configurations with up to 16GB of RAM and multiple storage tiers, positioning it firmly at the high end of what a folding smartphone can currently offer.
The timing of Monday’s launch wasn’t accidental. Xiaomi is set to unveil its own rival foldable phone later the same day, and Apple is widely expected to introduce its first-ever foldable iPhone at an event scheduled for Wednesday. Having all three companies bring new foldable hardware to market within the span of roughly 72 hours turns this week into one of the more consequential stretches for the foldable phone category since the format first emerged commercially several years ago. For Huawei specifically, launching first gives it a brief window to set the narrative and capture headlines before attention shifts to Xiaomi and then to Apple’s long-anticipated entry into a segment it has stayed out of until now.
Huawei’s position in China’s foldable market heading into this showdown is genuinely strong. According to data from International Data Corporation, Huawei held roughly 70 percent market share in China’s foldable phone segment during the first half of 2025, shipping more than ten million foldable devices and holding the top spot by a wide margin. That dominance stems from years of sustained investment in folding hinge mechanisms, display durability and software optimization specifically tailored for larger, foldable screens, areas where Huawei built up a substantial head start while competitors were still treating foldables as a niche category rather than a mainstream flagship offering.
That head start matters because Apple’s entry into the foldable category represents a fundamentally different kind of competitive threat than anything Huawei has faced in this segment before. Apple has historically waited to enter new hardware categories until it believes it can deliver a polished, differentiated experience rather than rushing to match competitors feature for feature, and its foldable iPhone has been one of the most closely watched product rumors in the smartphone industry for several years running. If Apple’s device lands with the kind of software integration and build quality the company is known for, it could reshape consumer expectations for what a folding phone should look and feel like, even in markets like China where Huawei currently holds a commanding lead.
Xiaomi’s rival launch adds another layer to the competitive picture. Xiaomi has been aggressively expanding its premium smartphone lineup in recent years, moving beyond its earlier reputation as a value-focused brand and pushing into flagship territory with higher-end materials, camera systems and now, folding form factors. A Xiaomi foldable arriving on the same day as Huawei’s Mate XT2 launch suggests the company wants to position itself as a serious alternative for Chinese consumers who might otherwise default to Huawei simply because it’s been the established leader in this category.
Huawei’s broader smartphone strategy has leaned heavily on its self-developed Kirin chip lineup and its HarmonyOS operating system, both of which the company has had to build out largely independently after losing access to Android’s full Google ecosystem and to Western chip manufacturing partners in the wake of U.S. sanctions. Earlier this year, Huawei’s flagship Pura 90 series and its Pura X Max device, which the company marketed as the industry’s first horizontally wide foldable phone, demonstrated how much progress the company has made on its Kirin 9030S chip, with Huawei reporting significant gains in NPU image processing and AI-driven camera performance compared to prior generations. HarmonyOS adoption has also been climbing steadily, with device numbers running the platform surpassing 55 million earlier this year, a meaningful jump in a relatively short window that signals Huawei’s ecosystem strategy is gaining real traction domestically even without Google’s services layered on top.
For consumers, this week’s cluster of launches means genuinely more choice at the high end of the foldable market than has existed at any single point before. Whether Huawei can hold onto its dominant share once Apple’s foldable iPhone actually reaches the market remains an open question, particularly outside China where Huawei’s international smartphone presence has been considerably diminished by ongoing trade restrictions. But for now, the Mate XT2 gives Huawei a strong opening statement in a week that’s shaping up to be one of the most competitive the folding phone category has seen, with pricing and full China availability details for the new device expected to follow shortly through Huawei’s official channels.
