Huawei’s latest tri-fold smartphone has garnered over 2.7 million pre-orders, as the company pushes ahead with its Mate XT model, surpassing Apple’s upcoming iPhone 16 launch, which is scheduled for Tuesday morning Beijing time. Pre-orders for the Mate XT opened midday Saturday, two days ahead of Apple’s anticipated product announcement. While Huawei has not yet disclosed the price of the new device, official sales are expected to start on September 20.
Huawei’s announcement of a product launch scheduled for Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. also signals its confidence in challenging Apple, especially after Canalys reported that Apple fell out of China’s top five smartphone vendors for the second quarter. It marks the first time in years that domestic companies held all five top positions. Huawei ranked fourth in China, shipping 10.6 million smartphones, while Apple shipped 10 million in the first quarter.
Huawei’s focus on innovative designs such as foldable and flip smartphones continues to differentiate it from Apple, which has yet to enter these product categories.
