Key Takeaways
- Kirin 9050 Pro powers the Mate XT2, delivering 42% higher performance than the Kirin 9030 Pro, alongside dual-chip security and on-device multimodal MoE LLM support.
- Huawei has adopted an inward-folding mechanism for the Mate XT2, moving away from the zig-zag design of the original Mate XT and making it similar to Samsung’s tri-fold approach.
- SAG expects the sales to remain limited, despite Huawei’s tri-fold models accounting for more than 10% of its foldable smartphone sales in China in 2025, as the CNY 19,999 starting price keeps the device highly niche.
- Minimal impact on iPhone Fold sales is expected, as Apple’s strong ecosystem loyalty should keep iPhone Fold buyers largely insulated from competition from Huawei’s tri-fold.
A Feature-Rich Tri-Fold
Huawei launched its latest tri-fold smartphone on Sep 7th, just two days before the iPhone Fold launch. The Huawei Mate XT2 looks very much spec-packed. Despite being a tri-fold, the device has a thickness very similar to Huawei’s passport-size foldable, which was launched earlier this year.
The phone also carries a triple-camera setup, which is very impressive for a tri-fold form factor and highlights Huawei’s focus on maintaining flagship-level imaging capabilities despite the additional engineering challenges of a multi-fold device.
Exhibit 1: Huawei Mate XT2
Kirin 9050 Pro Brings a Performance Boost
Huawei relies on its own Kirin chipset for the device, as US sanctions restrict the company from using Qualcomm and MediaTek chipsets. The Mate XT2 is powered by the Kirin 9050 Pro processor, which is 42% faster than the Kirin 9030 Pro.
The chipset also features dual-chip security and supports what Huawei describes as the industry’s first deployment of an on-device multimodal Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) large language model (LLM). This gives the Mate XT2 a stronger proposition in terms of on-device AI capabilities, performance and security.
A Different Folding Mechanism
Regarding the folding mechanism, it is not the exact folding mechanism used for the Huawei Mate XT, which featured a zig-zag folding design.
With the Mate XT2, Huawei has adopted a folding mechanism similar to the Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold, with the flaps folding inward. This represents a notable shift from the original Mate XT’s approach and could potentially offer more safety to the folding display.
Privacy Display Comes to the 1TB Variant
Another feature inspired by Samsung is the privacy display on the 1TB variant.
What’s impressive, though, is that Samsung introduced its privacy display on a slab form factor (S26 Ultra) earlier this year and is yet to bring the technology to a tri-fold or even a conventional foldable. Huawei bringing this capability to a premium tri-fold further differentiates the Mate XT2 in the high-end foldable segment.
Tri-Fold Sales to Remain Limited
SAG estimates that Huawei’s tri-fold models combined accounted for more than 10% of Huawei’s total foldable smartphone sales in China in 2025.
The Mate XT2 follows a similar pricing strategy, with a starting price of CNY 19,999 (US$2,980). However, its performance remains to be seen, considering the mixed demand in both the global and Chinese smartphone markets this year.
Moreover, the first batch of tri-fold buyers is unlikely to be keen on replacing their existing devices with the new model so soon. As a result, we expect the incremental sales contribution from the Mate XT2 to remain very small.
Limited Impact on iPhone Fold Sales
Talking about how it is going to impact iPhone Fold sales, we believe that iPhone Fold buyers are highly loyal consumers who want to remain within the Apple ecosystem.
Therefore, Huawei’s tri-fold is unlikely to have any major impact on the sales of the iPhone Fold. The two products are likely to appeal to different consumer groups, with Huawei targeting users looking for cutting-edge multi-fold hardware, while Apple’s foldable is expected to benefit from the strong loyalty and ecosystem attachment of its existing customer base.
Overall Outlook
Overall, the Mate XT2 demonstrates Huawei’s ability to pack flagship-level processing, imaging, AI and security capabilities into an increasingly mature tri-fold form factor.
However, its CNY 19,999 starting price, limited upgrade opportunity for existing tri-fold owners and the niche nature of the tri-fold category mean that its overall sales impact is likely to remain limited.