On Mar. 3 (local time), a crowd gathered at Huawei's exhibition booth at the world's largest mobile exhibition, Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2025, held at 'Fira Gran Via' in Barcelona, Spain. At first glance, it appears to be an ordinary smartphone, but when held open sideways, two hidden screens are revealed, transforming it into a device resembling a tablet PC over 10 inches in size. It is the Mate XT, the world's first triple foldable phone launched by Huawei last year.
The Mate XT, Huawei's ambitious model, implements three screens but has a thickness of only 3.6 mm when opened. This is less than half the thickness of the Galaxy S25 Ultra (8.4 mm). The Mate XT surpassed 3 million pre-orders in China immediately after its release in September last year.
At MWC 2025, various smartphones unveiled by Chinese manufacturers garnered significant attention from visitors. In response, Samsung Electronics unveiled a prototype of its ultra-thin smartphone, the Galaxy S25 Edge.
On Mar. 2 (local time), Xiaomi unveiled its flagship smartphone, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra. It features four lenses developed in collaboration with the German camera company Leica, offering high-quality photography. It supports up to 63x zoom, and photos taken with zoom can be enhanced using artificial intelligence (AI) for better clarity. It is also equipped with a high-capacity battery of 6000mAh.
Techno displayed the foldable phone, Phantom Ultimate 2, which features fiber optics on its exterior, capable of producing various lighting effects, such as a galaxy design. Realme unveiled the world's first temperature-sensitive smartphone, the Realme 14 Pro series, at MWC 2025. Its rear panel changes color based on temperature. Below 16 degrees Celsius, the rear cover shifts from white to blue, and as the temperature rises, it returns to its original color.
Ulefone introduced the rugged phone, Armor 28 Ultra, equipped with a high-capacity battery. Rugged phones are smartphones specifically designed for durability, primarily used for military and activity purposes. It boasts a battery capacity of 25,500mAh, 3 to 4 times that of regular smartphones, and features a speaker with a volume level of 118dB. The back is equipped with a secondary display and LED lighting, allowing for photography in extremely dark environments, such as mountainous terrain at night.
Samsung Electronics unveiled the Galaxy S25 Edge, which is 0.8 mm thinner than the standard Galaxy S25 (7.2 mm). However, the official launch is set for April this year, and specific specs or features have not yet been disclosed. There have been suggestions that the triple foldable phone may be revealed this year, but the company has not officially mentioned this yet.
Chinese smartphone manufacturers are rapidly growing, leveraging new technologies and value for money. According to market research firm IDC, the global smartphone market size increased by 6.4% last year compared to the previous year. Looking at individual companies, the shipment volume of Xiaomi, ranked third, increased by 15.4% from the previous year, while Tranchon, ranked fourth, rose by 12.7%. In contrast, over the same period, Apple, ranked first, saw its shipments decline by 0.9%, and Samsung Electronics, ranked second, decreased by 1.4%.
A smartphone industry insider noted that "China is advancing various technological developments to boost smartphone sales," adding that "Chinese manufacturers, who had been strong in the mid-to-low price market, are now targeting the premium market as well."