Chinese tech giant Huawei plans to launch three new foldable smartphones in the second half of 2021, Digitimes said on April 19, citing sources.
Huawei may adopt friendlier pricing, targeting the entry-level market, to spur demand and sales of foldable smartphones, the sources said.
Other smartphone makers, including Samsung and Asus, could also launch new foldable models later this year, the report said.
As a result of the new models, global shipments of foldable smartphones could reach 7 million units in 2021, up from an estimate of 2.8 million a year ago, according to Digitimes Research.
In addition, the popularity of the new foldable smartphones will increase global shipments of AMOLED panels to 12 million units in 2021, up from 4.4 million units a year ago.
Huawei announced the Mate X2 on Feb. 22, priced at RMB 17,999 for the 256GB version and RMB 18,999 for the 512GB version, which is RMB 1,000 more than the price of the previous generation Mate Xs.
The Mate X2 went on sale at 10:08 on February 25 on Huawei's official channels as well as major e-commerce platforms in China. It sold out quickly, just like Huawei's previous two generations of foldable phones, the Mate X and Mate Xs.
The device's price rose to a maximum of RMB 99,999 ($15,496) on the used market on its first day of sale. Some Huawei dealers said the Mate X2 was in scarce supply and difficult to buy at a higher price.
Huawei Mate X2 price goes up to about $15,500 on second-hand market on debut
(Source: Huawei)
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