Xiaomi, Honor look ready to push trifold handsets, following the lead of Huawei’s Mate XT

Both Xiaomi and Honor have previously applied for a design patent on a double-hinged handset, according to public records

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An advertisement for Huawei Technologies’ Mate XT trifold smartphone outside the company’s store in Beijing’s Wangfujing shopping area on September 13, 2024. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 7:00am, 20 Sep 2024Updated: 3:39pm, 10 Oct 2024

Chinese smartphone makers Xiaomi and Honor appear ready to follow rival Huawei Technologies’ lead by launching their own trifold models, as public records show that the two firms have each previously applied for a design patent on a double-hinged handset.

According to a filing released by China’s National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), Beijing-based Xiaomi had already applied for a design patent on a double-hinged smartphone with three rear cameras in 2022. The agency’s record shows that this patent application was made public on September 3.

Honor, the Huawei spin-off, had also applied for a design patent on a trifold smartphone in 2021, according to CNIPA records. That patent filing, made public in April, showed a Z-shape, double-hinged foldable handset and a round camera.

Those patent applications reflect how China’s major Android handset players are betting on new foldable models to compete with Apple’s iPhone in the high-end segment of the world’s biggest smartphone market.

Xiaomi founder, chairman and chief executive Lei Jun unveils the company’s foldable smartphone model, the MIX Fold 3, in Beijing in August last year. Photo: Weibo

Foldable handsets with artificial intelligence features are projected to boost smartphone sales on the mainland, with total 2024 shipments rising 3.1 per cent year on year to 279 million units, according to tech research firm IDC.

At a media event in July, Honor chief executive George Zhao Ming said the company had already prepared patented technologies for a range of devices, including trifold and “rollable” smartphones. He added, however, that the firm needs to consider the right timing to release these smartphones.