Huawei has announced a September 10 event where the Chinese company plans to unveil the world's first tri-folding smartphone, with the timing of the event an apparently deliberate attempt to upstage Apple's upcoming iPhone 16 reveal.
Huawei hasn't yet officially shown off the pocketable phone, which reportedly has a 10-inch display when completely unfolded, but the company has shared a teaser on Weibo that depicts a device with three folding sides in a sort of reverse Z-shape, leaving little to the imagination about what's headlining the event.
Concepts of a three-fold device have not been in short supply over the years, but Huawei clearly thinks it can bring one to market, although DSCC analyst Ross Young has suggested that it will be the most expensive smartphone yet. The company's consumer and automotive technology executive Richard Yu called it an "epoch-making product."
The Huawei event is scheduled for September 10 at 2:30 p.m. China Standard Time. That translates to 11.30 p.m. Pacific Time on September 9, so the same day of Apple's "It's Glowtime" event for observers on the US West Coast. Apart from the foldable, new smartwatches and an electric car are also expected to be announced by Huawei on stage.
Huawei's recent resurgence has significantly challenged Apple's position in the Chinese smartphone market. According to research firm Canalys, Apple's standing in China has notably declined, with the company falling out of the top five smartphone vendors by market share in the second quarter of 2023.
In stark contrast, Huawei has experienced a remarkable upswing during the same period. The company saw its smartphone shipments in China surge by 41% compared to the same quarter last year, marking the fastest growth rate among the top five brands in the country.
Apple is unlikely to release a foldable iPhone before 2027, according to Taiwanese research firm TrendForce. Apple is widely expected to release a large-screen foldable iPad or MacBook to kick-off its foray into the product category.
