Huawei to unveil new phone hours after Apple’s marquee event for iPhone in September – report

Huawei Technologies is planning to launch new products at an event, just hours after Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) unveils the new iPhone 16 this month, Bloomberg News reported.

Huawei Consumer group chief Richard Yu announced the September 10 event on Weibo, revealing “an epoch-making product” which has taken five years of work and investment. The Chinese tech giant plans to unveil the world’s first commercial-ready smartphone which folds twice, the report added citing a person with knowledge of the matter.

Huawei, reportedly, is also preparing the launch of the Aito electric vehicle. However, the final products to be unveiled could change, the report noted.

Meanwhile, U.S. tech giant is expected to launch its new line up of iPhone phones and accessories on September 9.

Huawei’s smartphone shipments in China had soared 41% year-over-year in the second quarter of 2024, while Apple’s iPhone shipments had dipped by about two percentage points in the same period, according to data from research firm Canalys. It was the first quarter in history that Chinese vendors dominated all the top five positions in smartphone shipments in China, while Apple ranked sixth.

Apple’s smartphone market share in China has been facing tough competition from Chinese rivals, such as the resurgent Huawei. The Chinese tech giant was once in competition with Apple (AAPL) and Samsung (OTCPK:SSNLF) to be the world’s biggest handset maker until U.S. restrictions, starting in 2019, began to curb its access to chip manufacturing tools needed to produce its most advanced models.

However, last year in August, Huawei surprised many by quietly launching its new flagship smartphone, Mate 60 Pro. The chip inside the phone ignited concerns in the U.S. and raised questions about how it was possible, without the company being able to access critical technologies. In April, Huawei unveiled its Pura 70 series.

Yu has been seen with the new device in hand, known as a trifold. The main advantage would be the device’s ability to fit a large, tablet-like screen inside the dimensions of a smartphone. Huawei, besides other Chinese phone makers such as Honor Device and Xiaomi, has developed some of the thinnest foldable phones to date and has been working on developing the form factor even more, the report added.