Huawei releases a $2,800 trifold phone just hours after Apple unveils iPhone 16.

• Huawei announced on Tuesday that its new trifold smartphone will cost more than $2,800.
• In the US on Monday, Apple unveiled that the iPhone 16 Pro Max would cost $1,199 and the iPhone 16 would be priced at $799.
• In the Chinese market, both phones will commence in-store sales on September 20th.

Huawei announced that its new trifold smartphone will cost more than $2,800.

On Saturday, the phone started pre-orders and will begin in-store sales on Sept. 20, which is the same day as the launch of Apple's new iPhone 16 series in stores, including China.

The iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPhone 16 will be available on stateside on Monday, starting at $1,199 and $799, respectively. Pre-orders begin on Friday, and in-store sales start on Sept. 20.

The new Apple Intelligence AI features will be accessible in a free software update for iPhone 16, iPhone 15 Pro, and Pro Max users next month, the company announced.

According to Tuesday's presentation, Huawei's Mate XT includes artificial intelligence features such as text translation and cloud-based content generation.

According to a CNBC translation of his Mandarin-language remarks, Richard Yu, Huawei's executive director and chairman of the board of directors of the consumer business group, stated that it took five years to achieve this goal.

The Mate XT is available in red and black, with three storage options priced between 19,999 yuan and 23,999 yuan ($2,809 to $3,371). The device is 3.6 millimeters thick when unfolded and features a 10.2-inch screen.

The Mate XT phone can display content on a single, double, or triple screen, and its battery is 1.9 millimeters thick. Additionally, it works with a foldable keyboard.

As of midday Tuesday, Huawei's trifold Mate XT smartphone had received more than 3.5 million preorders, according to the company's website. The number of preorders surpassed 4 million after the launch event.

Trying to make a comeback

Apple unveiled a new A18 chip for its latest phones, which employ cutting-edge 3-nanometer technology, boosting the iPhone 16's speed by a considerable margin compared to the iPhone 12.

Huawei did not mention any chip developments during the Mate XT launch.

The Chinese company has attempted to recover in the smartphone market, which suffered after the U.S. imposed sanctions on the company in 2019. In October 2022, the U.S. tightened its restrictions on American sales of advanced chips to Chinese businesses.

In late August 2023, SMIC manufactured a chip used in the Mate 60 Pro, which was released by the Chinese telecommunications giant.

On Tuesday, Yu observed that the company remained resilient despite facing four rounds of sanctions.

In contrast to its product launch last year, which did not reveal any details about its Mate 60 Pro phone or reported advanced chip breakthrough during a high-profile launch event, Huawei began Tuesday's event by discussing the Mate XT's details and price.

Despite lackluster consumer spending overall, Huawei's sales in China were bolstered by the news of its advanced technology.

For the first time, domestic players held all five spots in the top five smartphone vendors in China in the second quarter of this year, according to Canalys. Apple fell out of the list.

According to Canalys, Huawei ranked fourth in market share with 10.6 million smartphones shipped.

In the first quarter, only the top five vendors received shipments from the firm. Apple shipped 10 million phones.

While Huawei and its Chinese competitors offer folding and flip phones, Apple has not yet entered those markets.

— CNBC's Arjun Kharpal and Hayden Field contributed to this report.