Huawei and Apple's latest smartphones went on sale in China on Friday, with many fans of the Chinese company disappointed that its much-anticipated $2,800 model - more than twice the price of the iPhone 16 Pro Max - was not available for walk-in customers.

Huawei's much-anticipated $2,800 tri-foldable smartphone, the Mate XT, hit the market on Friday, but many fans were left disappointed due to limited stock availability.

The phone is a piece of engineering marvel: when unfolded, the device measures only 3.6mm thick, making it the new thinnest portable computing device in the world. This slimness is needed, because when completely folded up, it is essentially three stacked layers, which then does increase thickness to 12.8mm.

Foldable phones have been very hit or miss over the past five years, and now Huawei is moving into uncharted territory. Begging the question of whether a tri-fold phone like the Huawei Mate XT is a trendsetter or a one-off.

Pictured here is an Apple flagship store in Beijing, China, on the day of the iPhone 16 launch on Sept. 20, 2024. Many Apple iPhone users in China are just as interested in Huawei's pricier trifold phone,

Huawei is preparing to release its new ‘trifold’ smartphone on Friday — the same day as Apple’s (AAPL) latest iPhone comes out — but it’s already being listed in China for up to three times its price.

Huawei and Apple’s latest smartphones go on sale in China on Friday, with the Chinese tech company’s much-anticipated $2,800 tri-foldable phone offered at more than twice the price of the iPhone 16 Pro Max.