Huawei’s Mate XT trifold smartphone sparks frenzy, prompting scalpers to raise prices

Scalpers at electronics marketplace Huaqiangbei aim to resell the Mate XT’s base model for up to US$9,866, above Huawei’s US$2,800 price tag

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The ludicrously high grey-market prices for the Mate XT reflects Huawei Technologies’ success in stealing Apple’s thunder in the same month the US firm launched its new iPhone 16 series. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 10:00am, 19 Sep 2024Updated: 12:20pm, 23 Sep 2024

Strong demand for Huawei Technologies’ attention-grabbing Mate XT trifold smartphone, which is in tight supply, has prompted consumer electronics vendors in Shenzhen’s Huaqiangbei to triple the handset’s selling price ahead of its official release this Friday.

While Huawei has put a 19,999 yuan (US$2,800) price tag on the 256-gigabyte model of the Mate XT, many scalpers have listed the new 5G handset from 60,000 yuan to 70,000 yuan amid a growing number of inquiries, according to Lin Shen, a second-hand smartphone dealer in Huaqiangbei, the world’s biggest electronics wholesale marketplace.

“The prices at Huaqiangbei are still very unstable,” Lin said. “Most of the interest is from scalpers who are looking to resell [the Mate XT] and make a profit from the price difference.”

The Mate XT, touted by Huawei as the world’s first commercial trifold smartphone, had generated more than 6.3 million reservations on the company’s Vmall e-commerce platform as of Wednesday afternoon. Huawei started pre-orders on September 7.

People walk past Huawei Technologies’ new Mate XT trifold smartphone on display at the company’s store in Beijing on September 10, 2024. Photo: AFP

The no-deposit reservations on Vmall, however, do not guarantee an immediate purchase for those who have signed up, owing to the limited supply of the Mate XT.