/PRZWT/When Samsung revealed at the Consumer Electronics Show in Berlin (IFA 2025) that its first tri-folding phone has entered the "final stage" of development, the technology community was keenly aware that the folding screen competition has entered a new stage. However, in sharp contrast to Samsung's new products that have not yet been mass-produced, Huawei not only turned the tri-folding phone from concept to reality a year ago, but also completed a key leap from "form innovation" to "ecological breakthrough" at the Mate XTs extraordinary master released on September 4.
Behind this seemingly ordinary technological competition, it actually reveals the deep logic of technological innovation in the global consumer electronics industry - true leadership lies not only in breaking through the boundaries of physical form, but also in building a technological ecosystem moat that is difficult to replicate.
The innovation of folding screen mobile phones has never been a single technological breakthrough, but a systematic "handheld super engineering" that integrates multiple technologies such as materials science, structural engineering and precision manufacturing. There is a view in the industry that the reason why Huawei can stay ahead in the tri-folding track is due to the multiple thresholds it has built in the core technology field. In terms of material innovation, Huawei's ultra-thin flexible glass and non-Newtonian fluid materials have achieved an increase in impact resistance of more than 30%.
This "softness overcomes rigidity" material philosophy allows mobile phones to maintain the thinness and transparency of the screen in daily use, and quickly absorb energy in the event of impact, solving the long-standing durability pain point of folding screens. Supporting this material innovation is Huawei's long-term deep cultivation in the field of structural engineering - the Tiangong hinge system, which took five years to develop, not only realizes the ultimate thinness of the fuselage through the double-track linkage design of inner and outer folding, but also realizes the impact resistance capacity enhancement of the shaft area by more than 35% through the eight-fold buffer structure.
This structural innovation is by no means a simple mechanical design, but a system optimization based on a large number of human factors engineering studies. Behind every opening and closing silky experience is the precise regulation of hundreds of parameters such as material fatigue and stress distribution.
If technological breakthroughs cannot be translated into large-scale production, it will still be "a mirror image", and mass production capacity is another core advantage of Huawei's technological innovation. Huawei uses aerospace-grade special steel to build hinge arc walls, and has achieved large-scale production through ultra-precision assembly processes, which has enabled its triple-fold mobile phone to sell nearly 500,000 units. This "from laboratory to production line" technology transformation ability is the key support for Huawei to continue to lead.
While most manufacturers are still torn about how to make the folding screen "live", Huawei has made the triple-folding phone truly "usable" through collaborative innovation in materials, structure and manufacturing.
More importantly, while most manufacturers are still focused on optimizing the hardware parameters of the folding screen, Huawei has taken the lead in expanding the innovation dimension to the ecosystem level. The Mate XTs Extraordinary Master equipped with Hongmeng 5.1 introduced the PC version of the application and PC-level interactive experience to the mobile phone for the first time, turning the formula of "folding screen = mobile phone + tablet + PC" into reality.
In the mobile office scene, the PC version of WPS supports multi-document processing and editing functions; in the financial management scene, the PC version of Wind Financial end point, Oriental Wealth Adaptation three-fold large screen, supports professional functions; in the professional drawing scene, the PC version of Wondershare Illustration, Wondershare Brain Map, the logic is clearly presented, and the creative expression is clear at a glance... There is also a new experience of large-screen viewing, watching comments while swiping, immersing yourself in movies anytime, anywhere. This kind of scene reconstruction ability is the core embodiment of ecological innovation beyond hardware stacking, and the distributed ability of Hongmeng system provides a solid technical base for it.
The value of ecological innovation is fully confirmed in the market data. Yu Chengdong, executive director of Huawei and chairperson of end point BG, revealed when releasing the Mate XTs extraordinary master that the number of end point devices equipped with Hongmeng 5 has exceeded 14 million, which is only 10 days since the last data released 12 million. The IDC report also shows that Huawei led the Chinese folding screen market with a 75% market share in the first half of 2025. The cumulative shipment of folding screen mobile phones exceeded 10 million units, becoming the first brand in China to reach this level.
What is more noteworthy is that the cumulative sales of its three-fold mobile phone are nearly 500,000 units, which proves that this high-end innovation has been recognized by the market. Huawei has transformed technological advantages into generational differences in user experience through ecological innovation. This "soft and hard collaboration" innovation path is the fundamental reason why it can "race itself".
The competition landscape of the three-fold screen track actually outlines the deep coordinate system of technological innovation in the global consumer electronics industry: one axis is the long-term investment of Huawei's "five-year grinding one hinge", and the other axis is the growth rate of Hongmeng Ecology's "10-day new 2 million equipment". This "depth + breadth" innovation model provides valuable inspiration for the industry: the real technical barrier is not in a single point of breakthrough, but in the formation of a mutually supportive innovation network of technological innovation, structural breakthrough, manufacturing upgrade and ecological construction.
Samsung's upcoming triple-fold new products may bring new technical variables, but Huawei has redefined the competitive dimension through continuous innovation, and also proved that when enterprises anchor technological innovation to the essence of user requests, they can continue to achieve ecological expansion from "1 to N" after the breakthrough of "0 to 1", and ultimately promote the entire industry to maturity and prosperity. (Wu Wei)
