Huawei’s Mate XT tri-fold smartphone sparks frenzy, prompting scalpers to raise prices
Strong demand for Huawei Technologies‘ attention-grabbing Mate XT tri-fold smartphone, which is in tight supply, has prompted consumer electronics vendors in Shenzhen‘s Huaqiangbei to triple the handset’s selling price ahead of its official release this Friday.
While Huawei has put a 19,999 yuan (US$2,800) price tag on the 256-gigabyte model of the Mate XT, many scalpers have listed the new 5G handset from 60,000 yuan to 70,000 yuan amid a growing number of inquiries, according to Lin Shen, a second-hand smartphone dealer in Huaqiangbei, the world’s biggest electronics wholesale marketplace.
“The prices at Huaqiangbei are still very unstable,” Lin said. “Most of the interest is from scalpers who are looking to resell [the Mate XT] and make a profit from the price difference.”
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The Mate XT, touted by Huawei as the world’s first commercial tri-fold smartphone, had generated more than 6.3 million reservations on the company’s Vmall e-commerce platform as of Wednesday afternoon. Huawei started pre-orders on September 7.
People walk past Huawei Technologies’ new Mate XT tri-fold smartphone on display at the company’s store in Beijing on September 10, 2024. Photo: AFP alt=People walk past Huawei Technologies’ new Mate XT tri-fold smartphone on display at the company’s store in Beijing on September 10, 2024. Photo: AFP>
The no-deposit reservations on Vmall, however, do not guarantee an immediate purchase for those who have signed up owing to the limited supply of the Mate XT.
The ludicrously high grey-market prices for the Mate XT reflects Huawei’s successful effort to steal Apple‘s thunder in the world’s largest smartphone market in the same month the US tech giant introduced the latest iteration of the iPhone.
Online retailers on the mainland have already slashed prices on the new iPhone 16 series ahead of its official release this Friday, as mainland consumers hold out for the release of the handset with artificial intelligence software.
Another dealer at Huaqiangbei said that his resale price for the Mate XT will ultimately depend on whether he can get one of the handsets when sales commence on Friday.
Apart from Huaqiangbei, dealers in online marketplaces have also raised the list price of the Mate XT. On Xianyu, the online flea market of Alibaba Group Holding, the cost of the Mate XT has swung from 30,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan. Many dealers promise to deliver the device on the same day as its official release. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
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Richard Yu Chengdong, chairman of Huawei Technologies’ consumer business group, shows the Mate XT tri-fold smartphone during the handset’s launch event in Shenzhen on September 10, 2024. Photo: Xinhua alt=Richard Yu Chengdong, chairman of Huawei Technologies’ consumer business group, shows the Mate XT tri-fold smartphone during the handset’s launch event in Shenzhen on September 10, 2024. Photo: Xinhua>
Meanwhile, PDD Holdings‘ budget shopping platform Pinduoduo has started selling the 512GB iPhone 16 Plus model for 8,999 yuan, a 10 per cent discount from the official price of 9,999 yuan. The 128GB iPhone 16 is available at an even steeper discount of 11 per cent.
This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
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