Xiaomi, the world's third-largest smartphone maker, introduced the Xiaomi 18 Fold on Monday. The phone follows a passport-style format and resembles Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold8, which arrived earlier this year. Xiaomi also emphasized that the 18 Fold runs on its latest in-house processor, the XRing O3, built using what it describes as an advanced manufacturing process.
Huawei, also on Monday, unveiled the Mate XT2. It is the company's third trifold generation, a format Huawei pioneered. Huawei said the device debuts a chip approach it calls LogicFolding, aimed at how electrical signals move across a chip.
These announcements arrive just ahead of Apple's Wednesday showcase, where rumors point to the company unveiling its first foldable iPhone - framed as a significant debut led by new CEO John Ternus.
Worldwide, Samsung remains the chief rival in foldables after kickstarting the category in 2019 and releasing its latest models in July. In China, Apple faces a deeper lineup led by Huawei, which holds more than two-thirds of that country's foldable segment. And competitors clearly circled this week on purpose. "This is not an innocent decision by these vendors," said Francisco Jeronimo, who serves as a vice president at IDC. "They knew Apple was coming up with a foldable, so they're trying to get ahead and, more importantly, trying to make sure that when the Apple products hit the stores, their product is there so consumers can compare."
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Speaking to CNBC on Tuesday, Neil Shah, a partner at Counterpoint Research, said, "There is significant pent-up demand for a foldable iPhone within the Apple community." "Many have refrained from switching to Samsung. Some have switched, but they might come back if there is an amazing foldable iPhone."
Counterpoint estimates that Apple's foldable iPhone shipments could reach 6 million units this year - about a quarter of the global market - and projects that share might increase to 40% in 2027. Shah added that "aspiring Chinese consumers" are likely to want Apple's new device, saying, "We will see lots of upgrades from the existing install base in China happening toward the foldable iPhone." Despite high prices, foldables continue to post strong growth.
A bigger lineup of foldables is arriving just as Apple is expected to jump in, which means more competition for phones and for the silicon inside them. Huawei and Xiaomi are leaning into custom chips and new chip techniques, while Samsung and, potentially, Apple push the category wider. If you track consumer hardware, chip designers, or component makers, this is the part of the cycle where momentum can shift fast.
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