Huawei to showcase the world's first smartphone that can fold twice

Huawei Technologies Consumer Group Chief Richard Yu announced the September 10 reveal on Weibo, previewing "an epoch-making product" that took five years of work and investment. Huawei intends to reveal the world's first commercially viable smartphone that folds twice. The company is also preparing to launch an Aito electric vehicle, though the final items will be open to modification.

In China, Huawei pushed Apple out of the top five device makers in the June quarter, after reclaiming its share of the premium market with the Mate 60 series powered by a breakthrough chip. Scheduling an event so soon after the new iPhone’s launch would suggest the company is ready to go head-to-head with Apple again.

Yu has been spotted with the new device in hand, dubbed a trifold. Its key advantage would be the ability to fit an even larger, tablet-like screen inside the dimensions of a regular smartphone. Huawei, alongside fellow Chinese device makers like Honor Device Co. and Xiaomi Corp., has developed some of the thinnest foldable phones to date and has been working on evolving the form factor further.

Not much else is known about the phone but it would ship with top-end hardware like cameras, the chipset, and more. Since this is the first gen model, the price may not be affordable. One can expect the phone to come with a very premium price tag, which might gradually decrease as the folding tech evolves.