Huawei’s Founder and Chairman of 360 Group, Zhou Hongyi, recently made a statement on social media platform comparing Huawei’s foldable phone Mate XT with Apple’s iPhone 16. He pointed out two major advantages of Huawei phone – one being the ability to hide face while making calls and the other being the capability to cover two bowls of instant noodles. Some netizens expressed their amazement, calling it “the most creative negative marketing strategy they’ve ever seen.”
Just 13 hours after Apple released the iPhone 16 series, on September 10th, Huawei officially launched its first foldable phone Mate XT Masterpiece, starting at 19999 yuan. The brand was promoted by celebrities like Yang Mi and Andy Lau.
This phone by Huawei has been jokingly referred to as the “electronic Maotai.” On the second-hand market, the Huawei foldable phone was being sold for as high as 90,000 yuan, and there were even reports of scalpers selling it for a staggering 650,000 yuan.
So, what kind of consumers would be willing to spend a high price on purchasing the Huawei Mate XT?
On the evening of September 13th, Zhou Hongyi posted a video on Weibo where he compared the Mate XT with the iPhone 16, praising Huawei’s hardware innovation as far superior to Apple’s. He demonstrated the phone’s unique features by saying, “Whether it’s pretending to make a call to cover up embarrassment or using it to press down the lid of instant noodles, it’s more practical with Huawei.”
In the video, Zhou Hongyi can be seen using the unfolded Huawei Mate XT to make a call, saying, “Hello, is this Xiaoli?” He explained, “Sometimes in public places, when I feel embarrassed and want to hide myself by pretending to make a call, using an iPhone won’t cover my face. But with the Huawei Mate XT, it’s a different story.”
He also mentioned, “When busy with work and having instant noodles, a crucial aspect of a phone is being able to press down the noodle lid. If you’re eating two boxes of instant noodles simultaneously, it’s difficult to press down the lids of both, leading to eating them one by one. However, with the Huawei Mate XT, it’s different – you can cover both noodle bowls at the same time, doubling the efficiency of eating noodles, making it more secure…”
Some netizens questioned the intention behind these remarks, saying, “Why does it sound like a mockery towards Huawei?” “Is this satire, or am I too sensitive?” “This is the most ingeniously crafted negative marketing strategy I’ve come across.”
A search by a reporter at Dajiyuan found that on social media platforms, many mainland Chinese consumers have reported issues with their purchased Huawei foldable phones, such as leaks, leading to phone malfunctions. What angered these consumers even more was that Huawei’s after-sales service refused to provide free repairs for these issues.
On September 14th, a consumer exposed a serious quality problem with their Huawei foldable phone, which cost them thousands of yuan, as it started leaking within a month of use. However, Huawei’s after-sales service found various reasons to reject providing free repairs to the consumer.