Between the afternoon of September 7 and the early hours of September 10, the global smartphone industry is set to witness a remarkable "foldable face-off" unlike anything seen before. Within a 72-hour window, Huawei, Xiaomi, and Apple will each hold launch events, unveiling their latest foldable flagship devices in rapid succession. This marks the first time in the seven years since the foldable category emerged that the three major players will compete head-on within the same product segment and timeline. Huawei and Apple are clashing in the foldable space for the very first time, while Xiaomi enters the fray with a new "mid-fold" form factor. This three-way contest is no coincidence; it is a calculated move driven by intense competition in a saturated smartphone market. Traditional bar-style phones have lacked compelling narratives for too long, and foldables represent one of the few avenues capable of sustaining technological storytelling, brand premium, and consumer imagination simultaneously. The foldable segment is now undergoing a pivotal shift. According to Sun Yanbiao, head of the First Mobile Industry Research Institute, foldable phones have historically played the role of differentiated products. However, the rise of video-centric usage and artificial intelligence has significantly increased the likelihood that phones will further displace tablets. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime market opportunity," he remarked.

All devices are priced above the 10,000-yuan threshold. On the afternoon of September 7, Huawei struck first with the launch of its new tri-fold device, the Huawei Mate XT 2 Ultimate Design. Compared to its predecessor, the Mate XT 2 completely abandons the "Z" shaped mechanism in favor of a "U" shaped dual inward-folding structure, providing more complete protection for the flexible inner display when folded. Within its ultra-slim 3.5mm body, it accommodates both inner and outer screens for the first time. The headline feature is the debut of the Kirin 9050 Pro chipset, the first high-performance chip to employ logic-folding technology. This chip arranges logic units in layered stacks within a single die, akin to upgrading from a single-story layout to a duplex, with vertical interconnect channels added inside. The Lingxi CPU architecture supports hyper-threading, delivering a 52% improvement in multi-core concurrency performance and a 42% overall performance boost over the previous generation. Transistor density has risen from approximately 155 million per square millimeter to 238 million, while NPU power consumption drops by 66% and GPU power consumption by 58%. Pricing starts at 19,999 yuan, with the top-tier configuration reaching 24,999 yuan. Xiaomi follows suit, launching its first "mid-fold" device, the Xiaomi 18 Fold, in the evening. The 18 Fold adopts a brand-new mid-fold design, debuting the self-developed Xuanjie O3 AI flagship SoC and featuring domestically produced Changxin LPDDR6 memory. Xiaomi President Lu Weibing has confirmed that the starting price will exceed 10,000 yuan, marking the company's first foray into five-figure pricing for a smartphone. Apple will then make its entrance on September 10: at 1 a.m. Beijing time, the company will host its autumn launch event, where the long-rumored first foldable iPhone, the iPhone Ultra, is expected to be officially revealed. According to public reports, it will feature a horizontal inward-folding design with a 5.5-inch external display and a 7.8-inch internal screen, presenting an expanded aspect ratio close to 4:3, similar to the iPad mini. It will be powered by a 2nm A20 Pro chip. Media reports suggest the China-market starting price could be around 14,999 yuan.

Why are phone makers betting so heavily on foldable devices? "As chip computing power continues to improve, the three product categories of phones, laptops, and tablets can achieve seamless transitions. Laptops excel with large screens and physical keyboards for input, while tablets offer superior large-screen viewing and touch interaction, both of which traditional phones cannot deliver. Foldables resolve this dilemma precisely. The market-driven logic becomes clear: AI can substitute a significant amount of manual input operations. The question of whether users who purchase foldables will reduce their reliance on laptops and tablets, thereby enabling market substitution for those two categories, forms the fundamental basis for foldable market potential," explained Sun Yanbiao.

Will the foldable market landscape be reshaped? Within China, Huawei continues to dominate the foldable phone sector by a wide margin. IDC data shows that in the first quarter of 2026, Huawei captured a 60% share of the Chinese foldable market, with HONOR following at 21%, and OPPO, vivo, and Xiaomi holding 6%, 5%, and 4%, respectively. Globally, however, Apple's entry into foldables could significantly alter the competitive landscape. Counterpoint Research predicts that global foldable smartphone shipments will grow 21% year-over-year in 2026. Samsung's market share is expected to decline from 40% in 2025 to 32%, while Apple could capture 25% in its first year, with Huawei projected to hold 24%. Together, the three brands are expected to control more than 80% of the foldable market. IDC, meanwhile, forecasts a 30% year-over-year increase in global foldable shipments for 2026. Foldable phones, priced at roughly three times the average cost of a standard smartphone, are becoming a crucial lever for manufacturers to sustain high margins and brand value in a stagnating market.

"This year, memory prices have risen substantially, rendering entry-level 1,000-yuan phones unviable. Current smartphone storage configurations typically need to exceed 128GB to accommodate video shooting, WeChat photo capture, and other demands. Once storage reaches 128GB, the 1,000-yuan price point can no longer cover costs. As a result, starting prices for upcoming phone models will generally begin at 2,000 yuan. With the overall price base shifting upward, the old benchmark of defining 4,000 yuan as the high-end price threshold is no longer applicable, and future premium device pricing will effectively rise to the 5,000-yuan range," Sun noted. He believes this shift is somewhat beneficial for domestic manufacturers, as the psychological price barriers consumers have long held can be elevated through the foldable phone segment. Sun further commented that Apple has faced persistent external skepticism regarding product innovation. Based on supply chain feedback, Apple's core requirement for its foldable is a completely crease-free visual effect when the screen is unfolded. It appears that Apple may have adopted a new process to overcome this challenge. By launching a foldable at this juncture, Apple's primary goal is to push its product price ceiling higher and re-establish a technological leadership image in the premium segment. However, whether Apple's foldable gains market acceptance hinges critically on the alignment between pricing and consumer expectations. Prominent analysts, including Ming-Chi Kuo, widely believe that Apple's first foldable iPhone (potentially named iPhone Ultra or iPhone Fold) will be officially unveiled at the September 2026 autumn event. Yet, due to severe initial production constraints, pre-orders and formal sales may be delayed to the fourth quarter of 2026 (October to December).