Huawei Technologies is expected to debut the world's first "tri-fold" smartphone within hours of Apple's iPhone 16 launch event on September 10, teeing up a head-to-head competition as the Chinese technology giant snaps up more market share at home.

Huawei announced the event on Monday with a post to microblogging platform Weibo, featuring a Z-shaped image that resembles the dual-hinged handset it has been developing. Richard Yu Chengdong, chairman of Huawei's consumer business group, said in a Weibo repost that Huawei's "most leading, innovative and disruptive product" is coming.

The executive has recently been spotted using the two-creased device in public, according to pictures circulating on Chinese social media.

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The launch will take place shortly after Apple concludes the "It's Glowtime" event it has scheduled that day, when the world's most valuable company is expected to launch the artificial intelligence-equipped iPhone 16 series phones. Huawei's competition with Apple in China has taken on new significance as the US-sanctioned telecoms equipment maker has seen its smartphone sales surge while iPhone sales in China have struggled comparatively.

Images of Richard Yu Chengdong, chairman of Huawei Technologies' consumer business group, have circulated online showing him using what appears to be a dual-hinged foldable smartphone. Photo: Weibo / 极客视线 alt=Images of Richard Yu Chengdong, chairman of Huawei Technologies' consumer business group, have circulated online showing him using what appears to be a dual-hinged foldable smartphone. Photo: Weibo / 极客视线>

Huawei did not reveal details about the new product in its announcement, and did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

"Huawei's strategic decision to launch its advanced tri-fold smartphone immediately following Apple's launch demonstrates a well-thought-out and astute move," Abhilash Kumar, analyst at TechInsights, said on X, formerly Twitter. "A longer interval between the two launches could have resulted in a substantial number of consumers committing to the iPhone 16 series, making it less likely for them to consider Huawei's tri-fold device."

In a separate Weibo post on Tuesday, Huawei's Yu revealed that the company's anticipated device will be called the Mate XT, under the luxury product line Ultimate Design. The Mate branding is used for a line of Huawei's flagship devices that includes last year's Mate 60 Pro, which was the beginning of the company's resurgence in China owing to its China-made processor with a 7-nanometre chip that appeared to defy US sanctions.

Since that launch and Huawei's following Pura 70 line launched in April, Apple has faced mounting challenges in China, one of its most important markets.

While Apple still topped the premium segment, which consists of handsets priced over US$600, its market share dropped to 58 per cent in the March quarter from 70 per cent a year earlier, according to IDC data. Huawei's share in the high-end market jumped to 20 per cent that quarter, up from 12 per cent a year earlier.

Apple fell out of the top five smartphone vendors in China by shipments in the second quarter, according to market analytics firm Canalys.

Huawei has long been reported to be preparing a foldable smartphone with three sections, according to Chinese media. Yu said in a live-streamed interview in July that the company has been working on "the next generation of foldable phones" for the past five years.

The Shenzhen-based company filed a patent for a dual-hinged device in 2022, according to records from the China National Intellectual Property Administration.

In the first quarter, Huawei beat Samsung Electronics to become the world's bestselling foldable smartphone brand with a 35 per cent market share, as the South Korean brand slipped to 23 per cent of the market, according to data from Counterpoint Research. Huawei's sales still primarily depend on China, however, as restrictions on accessing US technology such as Google services have limited the appeal of its products overseas.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright ? 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

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