Huawei Technologies Co unveiled its latest foldable phone on Monday, betting on the novel format to flesh out its lineup and fend off resurgent competition in China from Apple Inc.
The Pura X Max can unfold horizontally into a view similar to that of a tablet and retails for 10,999 yuan (US$1,610/RM6,372). It has a comparatively small 5.4-inch display on the exterior and stretches to 7.7 inches when open. The Max model, built around the widescreen proportions of that inner display, is the latest addition to a coterie of foldable devices that includes a trifold phone. Local rivals from Xiaomi Corp to Oppo are also making and advancing foldables to tap upscale consumers.
Competition between Huawei and Apple is heating up in the world’s largest smartphone arena. The iPhone has come back strong there since 2025, contesting Huawei’s lead in the market. The Chinese company’s latest launches – including its business-focused flagship Mate series last year – target features touted by Apple, like an ultra-thin body to woo premium users.
Huawei also launched the new Pura 90 on Monday, with a starting price tag of 4,699 yuan (RM2,726). It’s largely kept the devices’ launch prices in line with the previous generation. That’s while rivals including Xiaomi and Vivo have hiked prices for their smartphones this year to respond to soaring costs of memory chips – a basic component in every smartphone for storage and computation.
Consumer business chief Richard Yu on Monday urged consumers to buy the new device early, and warned Huawei may soon have to respond to the memory chip crunch. "We might have to hike prices later if we cannot sustain the costs,” Yu said during a presentation.
The new Pura series launch comes months before Apple’s first foldable phone is set to debut this year, as both companies defy a broader smartphone shipment slump. Shipments in China, the world’s biggest smartphone market, are expected to shrink 9% this year, compared to just 0.6% in 2025, according to Counterpoint Research.
Still, Huawei is among the very few Chinese brands that still managed to eke out growth in the first three months of 2026. iPhone shipments there jumped 33% in the first quarter this year, bumping Apple’s market share in the country to nearly 19% – just shy of Huawei’s 20% – according to market tracker IDC.
The Chinese company’s years-long efforts to build out a domestic supply chain have helped it weather a global memory price hike better than some of its peers. Xiaomi has seen a steady decline in its market share over past quarters, posting a 35% drop in shipments in the first three months of the year, Counterpoint said. – Bloomberg
