Foldables face their biggest competitive week yet

The premium foldable market is entering perhaps its most consequential week since Samsung introduced the original Galaxy Fold. Huawei launched the second-generation Mate XT tri-fold on September 7, Xiaomi introduced its new 18 Fold the same day, and Apple is widely expected to enter the category during today's September event. Huawei already controls a reported 68% of foldable shipments in China, while Samsung remains a major global player.

Xiaomi is differentiating through its in-house XRing processor and aggressive camera hardware. Apple, meanwhile, has the potential to expose the category to hundreds of millions of users who have never seriously considered a folding phone. Foldables still represent only a small part of worldwide smartphone volume, and high prices remain the biggest barrier.

The next stage will therefore be less about proving flexible screens work and more about demonstrating why ordinary users should pay significantly more for them.