China’s Huawei Hopes to Keep Its Momentum With a ‘Trifold’ Phone

Over successive administrations, the U.S. government has used stiff trade restrictions to try to stifle the Chinese telecom giant Huawei. In turn, the company never misses an opportunity to show that it is still standing.

Last year, at the tail end of a visit to China by Gina Raimondo, the U.S. commerce secretary, Huawei unveiled a smartphone that was powered by an advanced semiconductor made in China. The chip was exactly the kind of technology that the United States, in an effort led by Ms. Raimondo, had tried to prevent China from developing.

The Huawei phone, called the Mate 60 Pro, was heralded in China as the triumph of a national champion over American constraints. It sold out within minutes on Chinese e-commerce platforms. Many shoppers chose to pair their purchase with a phone case emblazoned with a photo of Ms. Raimondo’s face.

In the Chinese tech hub of Shenzhen on Tuesday, Huawei again is set to put itself in the spotlight with the expected announcement of a new device just hours after Apple introduced its iPhone 16 in California. Huawei’s latest phone, the Mate XT, is heavy on novelty: It can be folded, twice.

The tablet-size device folds along two vertical seams to become the size of a typical phone. It is the first commercially available trifold smartphone. It comes in two colors, red and black, and will go on sale on Sept. 20.

Since the Mate 60 Pro was launched last year, Huawei has been eating into Apple’s yearslong dominance of the market for high-end smartphones in China.