Huawei unveiled its much-hyped tri-fold smartphone at a live-streamed event in Shenzhen, touting a slim design and “groundbreaking” capabilities with a starting price of CNY19,999 ($2,809).

The release today (10 September) comes just hours after Apple’s launch of the iPhone 16 series and a year after the sanction-hit company released the Mate 60 Pro, sporting a domestic 7nm chip despite local chipmakers not having access to the most advanced machinery.

With the backdrop of the company finding ways to adapt since 2019 to survive US export restrictions, consumer group chief Richard Yu noted in a statement: “We have never stopped innovating, and never given up in the pursuit of making it possible.”

The Mate XT, which runs on its Harmony OS and a Kirin 9 chipset, is 3.6mm thick when open. The single-screen standard smartphone layout is 6.4 inches; the dual-screen size is 7.9 inches; and the triple-screen is 10.2 inches.

The triple-camera system comprises a 50MP primary lens, a 12MP ultra-wide angle lens and a 12MP periscope telephoto.

The release was long on amplification and short on specs, stating its advanced precision hinge system uses two tracks working in tandem to support both inward and outward folds, providing a “remarkably fluid fold”.

The devices comes in red and black, with 16GB+512GB and 16GB+1TB storage options. Prices range from CNY19,999 to CNY21,999.

The high-end device booked 3 million orders ahead of the official launch, Nikkei Asia reported.

The company continues to book enviable results for a telecoms equipment vendor, with H1 net profit rising 17.8 per cent year-on-year to CNY54.9 billion and revenue jumping 34.3 per cent to CNY417.5 billion.

In the domestic smartphone market where it dropped from the top five for more than a year, latest IDC numbers ranked it at second place in Q2, marginally behind leader Vivo, with an 18.1 per cent share as shipments rose 50 per cent year-on-year.