*

Tri-foldable phone seen as triumph over US sanctions

*

Huawei fans say the company has out-innovated Apple ( AAPL )

*

But most consumers say they won't buy it - Weibo poll

BEIJING, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Huawei's new tri-foldable

smartphone has ignited nationalistic pride in China with social

media abuzz with what supporters see as its ability to

out-innovate Apple ( AAPL ) despite U.S. sanctions - even if

many are balking at the phone's $2,800 price tag.

The Chinese technology giant unveiled its Mate XT, the

industry's first tri-foldable phone, on Tuesday just hours after

Apple ( AAPL ) introduced its artificial intelligence-enhanced iPhone 16

lineup.

Both the Mate XT and iPhone 16 will go on sale on Sept. 20,

though the Mate XT is expected to be available only in China.

"Apple ( AAPL ) hasn't fallen, but Huawei has truly risen again,"

commented one user on Weibo, China's equivalent to X.

Another wrote: "Times are changing. U.S. sanctions have been

in vain."

A video that purports to show Apple ( AAPL ) store employees in China

going to a Huawei store to watch the Huawei product launch also

became the No. 2 trending item on Weibo for 13 hours, garnering

91 million views and more than 6,600 comments.

The launch of the Mate XT follows Huawei's re-emergence in

the 5G premium smartphone market last year with its Mate 60

series and this year with its high-end Pura series phones that

have domestically produced semiconductors.

All have been celebrated in China as a triumph over U.S.

sanctions that have, since 2019, prevented the company from

accessing advanced U.S. chips and other technology.

Washington sees Huawei as a national security risk - a

charge that the company denies. U.S. sanctions have since

broadened out to encompass export bans on highly advanced U.S.

chips to all Chinese firms with Washington seeking to impede

advances in technology for China's military.

Huawei fans also noted that Apple ( AAPL ) has yet to announce an AI

partner in China to power its iPhone 16 product range and Apple

Intelligence, the company's AI software, will only be available

in Chinese next year.

Nationalistic pride notwithstanding, the Mate XT's starting

price of 19,999 yuan was widely criticised as beyond the reach

of ordinary consumers and insensitive at a time of sluggish

economic growth when ordinary citizens are struggling with

financial insecurity.

Versions with more sophisticated features such as larger

memory will cost as much as 23,999 yuan ($3,300).

A Weibo poll on the Mate XT showed that only 966 of some

9,200 respondents said they planned to buy it. More than 4,700

said they were put off by the price while another 3,500 said

they were not considering purchasing it at the moment.

"No matter how much I like the product, the price tag just

sounds crazy to me," said a person surnamed Xu at a Beijing

Huawei store, describing himself as a Huawei loyalist.

"Maybe Huawei isn't really targeting people like me," he

added.

($1 = 7.1138 Chinese yuan renminbi)