Huawei launched its Mate X foldable phone at MWC 2019, following up with the Mate XS in February this year. The latter foldable has enjoyed a wider launch of sorts, but the firm has reportedly revealed that it’s still making a hefty loss on the device.
Huawei consumer group CEO Richard Yu told media in China that even though the Mate XS retails for an eye-watering 16,999 yuan (~$2,408), the firm has lost between $60 million and $70 million. This is despite earlier claims that the phone is seeing high demand, suggesting that the company is willing to swallow losses to encourage foldable adoption.
“After the cost of the folding screen is reduced, it is possible to make a profit, not just the selling price (sic),” the CEO was quoted as saying by ITHome and MyDrivers.
It really makes you wonder how much the Mate XS would cost if the company was trying to make a profit right out of the gate. But the silver lining is that the price of foldable phone components is expected to come down over time as production and development matures.
In fact, the Huawei executive previously stated that it’ll take roughly two years for foldable phones to have the same price as traditional smartphones. Yu also claimed at the time that they were losing money on foldables, so this latest news gives a good idea of just how much they’re losing.
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