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produced by phoenix.com's eye of the storm

author: wang di

tip-off email: [email protected]

_{a huawei store in beijing displays a huawei mate xt prototype}

huawei's tri-fold phone is completely popular! starting at nearly 20,000 yuan, it is known as "the most expensive phone in huawei's history." as of september 10, huawei mate xt extraordinary master has been pre-ordered by more than 4 million people in huawei mall.

in addition, the two major technology giants in china and the united states launched new products on the same day (september 10) and faced off head-on, making this year's "technology spring festival gala" full of highlights. apple's first ai iphone 16 starts at 5,999 yuan, and huawei's matext, the world's first three-folding phone, starts at 19,999 yuan. the close combat was full of "gunpowder smell". the new phones went on sale on september 20 again, making the smoke of war.

for a time, related topics such as "can the release of huawei's 3-fold bring another wave of growth to the foldable screen mobile phone market?", "can manufacturers' 3-fold phones shake apple's position as the high-end leader?", "would you buy the top-of-the-line apple or huawei's 3-fold phone?" quickly dominated the charts. compared to apple's bet on ai to reverse its declining sales in china, huawei's new products focus on grabbing a share of the high-end mobile phone market.

on the day of the press conference, photos circulated on the internet showed that some relevant channel dealers had already hyped up the price of huawei's three-fold mobile phone to 100,000, 380,000, and even 650,000. phoenix.com's "eye of the storm" called the relevant contact person many times, but no one answered.

on september 10, phoenix.com's "eye of the storm" visited and consulted several huawei stores and apple stores in beijing and found that compared with the bustling consumer consultation scene at huawei that day, apple stores were slightly depressed. several huawei sales staff told phoenix.com's "eye of the storm" that it is not yet clear how many units of the first batch of huawei mate xt extraordinary masters will be distributed to each store. because the arrival quantity is limited, consumers who have successfully made offline reservations may not be able to buy them.

01 “there are scalpers who are buying new phones for 80,000 yuan! predicting offline mass sales is like predicting stocks.”

the global smartphone market has bid farewell to high growth and entered a stage of stock competition. in the high-end mobile phone market, it seems that only huawei can compete with apple. the 10.2-inch screen area makes huawei mate xt the world's largest folding screen mobile phone. the shipment volume of huawei's currently popular three-fold mobile phone and when it will be sold offline in large quantities have become hot topics of concern to consumers.

phoenix.com's "eye of the storm" called a huawei authorized mobile phone store in fengtai district, beijing, as a consumer. a customer service staff member told phoenix.com's "eye of the storm" that they didn't know how many units the manufacturer would distribute at present.

"now scalpers are asking for 80,000 yuan to buy one. just think about it, a mobile phone costs about 20,000 yuan, and you can buy it for 80,000 yuan. can you get it? no one can! just try it slowly, and use it if you can get it. if you can't get it, buy it when it is available." the above-mentioned person persuaded phoenix.com's "eye of the storm" earnestly, saying: "today, hundreds of people have come to inquire about the huawei mate xt phone. if you can really get an appointment, it would have been gone long ago. you just have to wait. the best and fastest way is to buy it on huawei's official website."

regarding the fact that the number of people who have made online reservations to buy the phone has reached 4 million, the above-mentioned person revealed to phoenix.com's "eye of the storm": "can so many people afford it? they all buy it and then resell it. this trend has been formed now, and there is nothing we can do. even if it is 100,000 yuan per unit now, if we don't need it, we won't buy it. we will buy it directly from the official website when we place an order. just like huawei matex5 now, not only can we buy it, but there are also more discounts. isn't that great? we have to join in the fun. there is no need to buy it two or three months in advance. just wait."

as for when huawei mate xt will be available for offline mass sales, the staff member pointed out that no notification has been received yet. "if i knew when it would be sold in large quantities, when it would be sold in small quantities, and when it would be sold at a low price, it would be like predicting stocks. it depends on the situation. if the technology is not mature, no one will buy it, and in the end anyone can buy it. if the effect is really good, just like the huawei matex5 product launch in october last year, it will be available in may or june this year."

according to phoenix.com's "eye of the storm", huawei mate xt is currently available for purchase online and offline. huawei mate xt opened for pre-order at 12:08 on september 7. although the price was not announced at that time, consumers were still enthusiastic about making reservations.

a huawei salesperson revealed to phoenix.com's "eye of the storm" that huawei's offline stores opened a channel for consumers to book intentions for a period of time on september 7, but stopped booking for about half a day. huawei mall customer service hotline staff told phoenix.com's "eye of the storm" that if consumers buy in huawei mall, huawei mall will ship the product; if they book in offline stores, the offline conditions will still prevail.

although management did not disclose shipment volumes, according to media reports, in june this year, supply chain sources pointed out that huawei set its mobile phone shipment target for this year at 30 million units at the beginning of the year. however, as sales rebounded and market demand increased, huawei adjusted its mobile phone shipment target for this year to 40 million units, an increase of more than 30%.

02 buying a mobile phone is like buying a lottery ticket! you need to make an appointment to experience it, and customers who make a successful offline appointment may not be able to buy it.

beijing wukesong huaxi live is known as beijing's new entertainment landmark and basketball mecca. here, mobile phone, car and other brand stores are lined up. crossing the bustling commercial street, huawei smart life hall is only 200 meters away from the apple authorized store.

on the day when huawei's tri-fold phone was released, phoenix.com's "eye of the storm" visited huawei's smart life center beijing huaxi live store. although it was a working day, there were more consumers who came to consult about huawei's new phone than apple stores in the same area. the huawei mate xt master prototype was officially exhibited in the store at 4:30 pm on september 10, and was placed in a transparent glass cover by a dedicated staff.

according to the sales staff, the prototypes are currently for physical viewing, and not all stores have prototypes on display. because this store is the second largest huawei experience store in beijing, the store currently displays products in two colors: xuanhei and ruihong, and consumers can view the appearance of the phone through a glass cover.

_{online booking experience of huawei's new phone on the 11th}

"if you want to experience it yourself, you need to make an appointment online. each person will have half an hour to experience it in the vip room. the event will start on september 11, 2024, and the new day's session information will be released at 9:00 every day. currently, the store is fully booked on september 10, 11, and 12." the salesperson told phoenix.com's "eye of the storm".

many consumers who were watching the event lamented: "i can't touch it, i can only look on and sigh! buying a mobile phone now is like buying a lottery ticket." according to phoenix.com's "eye of the storm", huawei mate xt is currently available for pre-order through both online and offline channels. the pre-sale time is september 20. even consumers who have successfully made offline reservations before may not be able to buy the new product.

according to a huawei salesperson, the number of people who intended to make reservations at the store on september 7 was about 70. however, even if the intention has been registered, it is not certain that the new phone will be successfully received on september 20, because the arrival quantity on september 20 is still unclear. as for whether the purchasers will be determined by queuing or lottery, we need to wait for subsequent notification. we have signed a relevant notice agreement with this batch of intended customers, and no deposit has been collected.

_{(consumer inquiry at a huawei store in beijing on september 10)}

"the confidentiality is very strict this time. we don't know anything in advance, and we won't know a lot of information before consumers. we are the second largest huawei store in beijing. if the quantity received by our store is small, other stores will have even less. we can't estimate the quantity of arrival now. the most worrying problem is that, for example, we have reservations for 100 or 200 people, but in the end our store only received 50 units, which is hard to explain to other customers."

compared to the shipment figures which are still kept secret, consumers are still enthusiastic about huawei's new products. a huawei salesperson told phoenix.com's "eye of the storm": "just now a customer asked if he could get the product in advance by paying an additional 10,000 yuan. we are an official huawei store and cannot do that. in addition, if consumers buy offline, they must disassemble the device for activation to ensure that they will use it themselves, in order to protect the rights of other customers."

03 consumers: “wait and see in the short term, will consider in the long term”

as richard yu, huawei's executive director, chairman of the device bg, and chairman of the intelligent automotive solutions bu, said: "huawei's tri-fold smartphone rewrites industry history, breaks the boundaries of smart terminal form factors, and puts a tablet in your pocket."

among the many consumers interviewed by phoenix.com's "eye of the storm", price has become a "stumbling block" for many consumers in purchasing huawei's tri-fold mobile phone.

zhang ling is a "die-hard fan" of huawei, and almost all the devices in his home are huawei series. he believes that for consumers, whether to buy depends on five factors: first, budget. second, actual needs and usage scenarios, whether there is a need to flip open the phone to see the big screen. if it is just for watching tv series, an ipad will do. third, whether there are face considerations. fourth, the requirements for matching the weight of the mobile phone need to be considered. huawei mate xt extraordinary master is definitely heavier than huawei matex3 or huawei matex5. fifth, whether the length of the consumer's fingers is convenient for operation when the phone is closed and unfolded.

cui wei is a "lucky guy" who successfully registered in the offline reservation channel on september 7. he told phoenix.com's "eye of the storm" that he has made an appointment to experience the huawei store in wangfujing, beijing on september 11. due to limited inventory, it is not certain that he will be able to buy the huawei mate xt when it officially goes on sale on september 20. in addition, he is most worried about the crease and broken screen problem.

in addition to the topics that consumers are concerned about, driven by huawei, samsung, xiaomi, transsion and other companies are also considering entering the tri-fold mobile phone market. yu chengdong also mentioned that the cost of tri-fold is indeed very high, and they will continue to iterate the process, improve the yield and reduce the cost.

(zhang ling and cui wei are both pseudonyms)