Huawei has revealed its revolutionary tri-foldable smartphone, the Mate XT, and has created waves of patriotism right across the country of China. This launch comes at a time when Apple recently released its AI-focused iPhone 16 range, making the two tech companies direct competitors. However, even with the influence of U.S sanctions that have limited Huawei’s access to certain core technology components, the Mate XT is considered as leading competitors in terms of tech innovation and becoming a symbol of Chinese technology.
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The Mate XT is the first tri-foldable phone in the market. The phone costs a staggering $2800 and while the ‘excitement’ has begun, questions have started being asked especially on its cost. A majority of the Weibo users were proud of Huawei’s technology, while at the same time complaining about the cost of the gadget.
Mixed Reactions on Social Media
The Mate XT is debuting in the market at the same time as Apple introduced iPhone 16 which will be out on the shelves starting September 20. Moreover, while the iPhone 16 is expected to be released across the world, Mate XT is only going to be available in China at the moment.
The video that circulated through Weibo by depicting Apple store employees in China entering a Huawei store to watch the Mate XT launch went viral and was trending for 13 continuous hours with more than 91 million views and 6,600 plus comments. It is this increase further complementing the enthusiasm specifically on the innovation that Chinese technology giant brings about.
According to Investing.com, Huawei’s comeback started last year when it launched its Mate 60 series, then the Pura series this year which incorporates chips from within the country. These releases have been described as victories over the U. S. sanctions which were put in place in the year 2019. These sanctions were due to limit Huawei’s access to superior U. S. chips, and were one of a variety of steps taken by Washington to dwarf the technological advancement in China, especially with regards to its military.
The launch of Mate XT extends Huawei’s foothold within the 5G smartphone market and maintains the firm’s stance as a strong contender to other giants such as Apple regardless of the outside forces.
Price Tag Sparks Debate
Though it has ignited that feeling of nationalism with the Mate XT in people, the price of the phone has been a point of controversy. Currently, it is priced at 19,999 yuan or $2,800, many Chinese customers are quite upset and this is rather unwise since current Chinese economy is not very good. To others, it means this price is rather too high especially when citizens are surrounded by financial problems and slow economic growth.
Similarly, in a poll conducted in China’s microblogging site Weibo, only 966 out of 9,200 affirmed that they will buy Mate XT. Some respondents said the reason for not purchasing it is the price though 3,500 others said they did not have an interest in the product at that particular time. Specifically, besides the current 128GB storage that is priced at 19,999 yuan ($2700), more mature models of Mate XT will have larger sizes of memory storage, with prices going up to 23,999 yuan ($3300).
However, these criticisms have not stopped Huawei from keeping on coming up with better models of smartphones that challenge other industries’ benchmarks.
U.S. Sanctions and Global Implications
Huawei has been experiencing sanctions imposed by the United States since 2019 that are aimed at restricting the access of the company to the latest technologies. These sanctions have limited the company’s access to the high-end U. S. chips, with Washington regarding Huawei as the national security threat. Despite these allegations, Huawei has denied them, but the company is gradually minimizing its reliance on American components especially in the development of its own domestically-produced semiconductors which many thought would hinder the company’s growth.
However, with the release of the Mate 60 series, Pura series and now the Mate XT this shows that Huawei is indeed a resilient company that is able to stand the test of time and remain a force to reckon with within the industry. The ability of the company to overcome these hurdles has led to an outburst of nationalism in China due to perceived triumph over the US in terms of technology. Also, skeptics claim that Huawei’s achievements are built upon its capacity to set higher prices for the products to such a degree that they remain unaffordable for most people. Whether the Mate XT is affordable or not remains an area of controversy, so while Huawei is promoting itself as an iconic Chinese brand for innovation across the globe.
