At 10:08 am on September 20, Huawei’s triple-folding mobile phone Mate XT Extraordinary Master officially launched its first sale, which is also the "world’s first mass-produced triple-folding mobile phone".
After the panic buying began, Huawei Mall showed that all models of Mate XT Extraordinary Master were sold out in seconds. At present, on online platforms such as Huawei Mall, JD.com, and Tmall Flagship Store, the same user can only buy one. As of press time, all platforms have shown "temporarily out of stock" and will go on sale again at 10:08 am on September 21.
On the morning of September 20, a reporter from Nandu Bay Finance Society saw in Huawei’s flagship store, Shenzhen Vientiane World, that the first sale site was crowded, and the first batch of users who successfully booked a reservation mentioned the new machine here for the first time. In an interview with a reporter from Nandu Bay Finance Society, Ms. Zhang, who is engaged in the financial industry, said that what she liked was the three-fold large screen, which was convenient for office and also very portable.
Mr. Kang, who was also activated at the scene, also showed his new phone to reporters. He said that this time he bought a black one, the appearance of the phone is very delicate, convenient and very thin, and the weight of the straight phone is not much different, and he is very satisfied.
As of 23:59 on September 19, Huawei Mall showed that the appointment of Huawei Mate XT extraordinary master has ended, and more than 6.85 million people have made an appointment.
19999 yuan on sale! It was fried to nearly 70,000 "sky-high price" before release
On the morning of September 20, Yu Chengdong, executive director of Huawei, chairperson of end point BG, and chairperson of smart car solutions BU, attended the first delivery ceremony of Huawei Mate XT extraordinary master at the flagship store on Nanjing East Road in Shanghai. Yu Chengdong said at the delivery ceremony that Huawei’s triple folding screen mobile phone is selling well beyond expectations, and the team is working overtime to expand production capacity.
Yu Chengdong said that over the years, Huawei has continued to break through in various forms such as inner folding, outer folding and vertical folding, and brought excellent quality experience with cutting-edge technology. Huawei Mate XT Extraordinary Master has the world’s largest 10.2-inch screen and is also the world’s thinnest folding screen mobile phone, unfolding as thin as 3.6mm. "Huawei Trifold rewrites the history of the industry, breaks the boundary of intelligent end point form, and turns science fiction into reality."
According to the introduction, Huawei Mate XT Extraordinary Master has single-screen, dual-screen and three-screen states, and can switch flexibly in various forms. Yu Chengdong called it "one machine and multiple functions, which can be called a new species of technology".
Nanduwan Finance Society reporter noticed that as early as before the release of Huawei’s three-fold mobile phone, second-hand platforms such as Dewu and Salted Fish had already hyped the mobile phone to nearly 70,000 yuan. Previously, Huawei’s first folding screen mobile phone Mate X (priced at 16,999 yuan) released in 2019 was hyped to a sky-high price of about 100,000 yuan.
As the world’s first commercial triple-fold mobile phone that is currently scarce in the market, Huawei’s triple-fold mobile phone is called "electronic Moutai" and "wealth management product".
Guo Tianxiang, research manager of IDC China, said that at present, the entire folding screen mobile phone in the Chinese market has only 10 million shipments a year, and the market 280 million throughout the year. For a category that has been developed for 5 years, the penetration rate is still very low. The three-fold mobile phone is difficult to become a major growth point due to factors such as high technical requirements, low yield, high price, and few participants. In fact, many manufacturers are in a conservative attitude towards next year’s folding screen market.
In Guo Tianxiang’s opinion, the screen and hinge processing technology requirements are high, the service life is a big challenge, and the assembly and processing yield of the whole machine is not high. "For the adaptation of software systems, Huawei has done the best among folding mobile phones. Battery life Due to the use of carbon-silicon negative electrode technology, battery life and volume have been greatly improved, but we still need to pay attention to the problem of power consumption and heat generation." Guo Tianxiang believes that the current situation of triple-folding mobile phones will not have a great impact on the tablet market, because its price and supply are a big limit.
Huawei leads the folding screen track, and many mobile phone manufacturers have established a layout
With the release of Huawei’s triple-folding mobile phone, Huawei’s category in the field of folding screen mobile phones has also been further improved. As an early domestic manufacturer to lay out the folding screen mobile phone market. In 2019, Huawei released the first 5G folding screen mobile phone, Huawei Mate X, and released more than 10 folding screen mobile phones in the past five years, covering various forms such as horizontal external folding, horizontal internal folding, and vertical small folding.
For tri-folding, it is very difficult for a screen to bend inside and outside, and it is even more difficult to ensure anti-extrusion, anti-stretching, and durability. To this end, Huawei pioneered the Tiangong hinge system, subverting the traditional structure. Through comprehensive breakthroughs in core components such as hinges and screens, it has realized both lightness and toughness, ingenious precision hinges and super-shape tri-folding large screens, achieving internal and external bending for the first time, bringing new folding products.
For this reason, Yu Chengdong said that "Huawei’s triple folding rewrites the history of the industry, breaks the boundary of intelligent end points and turns science fiction into reality".
In the tri-fold market, many mobile phone manufacturers have already made arrangements. Honor CEO Zhao Ming said that Honor has plans in tri-fold, scroll and other technologies. Although the technology is ready, the specific release time depends on the market reaction. In terms of supply chain, it is also reported that Xiaomi is developing a tri-fold mobile phone, which is expected to appear in the form of a physical model or prototype at the Mobile World Congress in February 2025. Transsion Holdings, known as the "king of mobile phones in Africa", has preempted Huawei to release the tri-fold screen mobile phone PHANTOM ULTIMATE 2, but this model has not yet been mass-produced.
Samsung, the former "first brother" of the folding screen mobile phone, is said to be developing a rollable mobile phone. According to the Korean media Business Post, Samsung has recently applied for a patent for a rollable display for smart devices.
Huawei has been a leader in the folding screen track. In the domestic market, Huawei’s folding screen mobile phone market share ranks first. According to the China folding screen mobile phone market share report released by IDC in the second quarter of 2024, the top five manufacturers in the domestic folding screen mobile phone market are Huawei, vivo, Honor, OPPO and Samsung. Among them, Huawei is firmly in the top spot with a market share of 41.7%, vivo, Honor and OPPO are 23.1%, 20.9% and 8.4% respectively.
In the global folding screen market, Huawei’s folding screen mobile phone is also in a leading position. According to data released by Techinsights, Huawei’s folding screen mobile phone sales rose by 257% in the first quarter of this year, surpassing Samsung for the first time. In the second quarter of this year, Huawei continued to lead the global folding screen smartphone market, followed by Samsung and vivo.
IDC said that with the release of new generation folding screen mobile phone products from more manufacturers, it is expected that China’s folding screen mobile phone market will continue to maintain a rapid growth trend in the second half of the year. The competition in the folding screen mobile phone market will enter a golden age, and major brands will engage in more intense competition. With the continuous advancement of technology and the gradual maturity of the market, folding screen mobile phones are expected to become a major trend in the future smartphone market.