Apple competitor launches tri-foldable phone globally

Huawei has officially released the Mate XT trifold phone outside of China.

Transcript

00:00When you hear about smartphones, there are two names dominating the international conversation,

00:04Apple and Samsung.

00:06But China's Huawei wants to get back into the chatter.

00:08The Chinese device maker is taking its tri-fold phone, called the Mate XT, global.

00:14The phone, which has a screen that folds in three, started selling in China in 2024, and

00:19now it's launching internationally with a $3,600 price tag.

00:25The global launch is an effort to revive a brand tarnished by U.S. sanctions.

00:30Huawei was once on its way to challenging Apple and Samsung at the top end of the smartphone

00:34food chain before those sanctions made it persona non grata.

00:38Huawei's global market share now stands at just 0.3 percent, according to IDC.

00:45The novelty of the phone may be the key to Huawei's global revival strategy.

00:50The high price tag could make the Mate XT a status symbol in the age of quiet luxury.

00:57More importantly, however, Huawei wants to get its brand name back out there, outside

01:02of China, where it has a 17 percent market share.

01:05There could be one stumbling block, though.

01:08The Mate XT is definitely not an Apple product, so users won't have access to the App Store.

01:13It is also not using the Google Android operating system, so users won't have access to apps

01:18from Google Play either.

01:20Mate XT users will have to rely on Huawei's App Store, which doesn't have access to a

01:26majority of the most popular apps used by Americans.

01:30Turning to markets, at the start of a holiday-shortened trading week, the S&P 500 is a stone's throw

01:36away from setting a fresh record high.

01:39Investors are keeping their ears open for any more tariff news out of Washington.

01:43Meanwhile, shares of Intel are higher after reports the company could be broken up and

01:48there's potential buyers interested in the pieces.

01:52That'll do it for your daily briefing from New York City.

01:54I'm Conway Gittins with The Street.