According to a new report from a trusted source, Huawei will be the first company to launch a tri-fold foldable smartphone. This information comes from Ice Universe, by the way, a well-known tipster.

Huawei is tipped to become the first company to launch a tri-fold foldable smartphone

He went to X to share the information. He also noted that the competition will be far behind, as in we won’t be seeing a tri-fold smartphone from a different company for quite a while after Huawei’s device arrives.

Ice Universe added that Samsung, who is the only competitor at the moment, “is still struggling to study how to make ordinary folding machines thinner” while adding that “it is an indisputable fact that Samsung’s technology has fallen far behind”.

The tipster went on to say that one of the main prerequisites for a tri-fold smartphone is that it ends up being thin enough. He added that that’s Huawei’s strength and Samsung’s weakness. He pointed to “complacency and continuous laziness” on Samsung’s part as the main reason for that.

Huawei’s current book-style foldable flagship is notably thinner than Samsung’s

To give you some context. The Huawei Mate X5, Huawei’s latest book-style foldable, is 11.1mm thick when folded. In comparison, the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is 13.4mm. The upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 6 will be slightly thinner than the Galaxy Z Fold 5, but still notably thicker than the Mate X5.

Other Chinese OEMs have pushed the ante even further when it comes to the thickness of foldables, however. The HONOR Magic V2 is only 9.9mm thick when folded, and its successor is tipped to be only 9.7mm thick. The Xiaomi MIX Fold 4 will also be extremely thin, allegedly, and so on.

Samsung really does seem to be behind in some aspects when it comes to foldables. That is a bit surprising considering that it was first on the scene, by far. Huawei could be the first to release a tri-fold device, but it remains to be seen how compelling will it be.