It's Friday, so it's kind of natural for things to go a bit crazy, but I wasn't prepared for what you're about to read… and you aren't, either.

Huawei enthusiasts were left disappointed as the anticipated $2,800 tri-foldable Mate XT was unavailable for walk-in customers upon its launch in China. Supply chain issues restricted availability to pre-order holders only.

The phone is a piece of engineering marvel: when unfolded, the device measures only 3.6mm thick, making it the new thinnest portable computing device in the world. This slimness is needed, because when completely folded up, it is essentially three stacked layers, which then does increase thickness to 12.8mm.

Foldable phones have been very hit or miss over the past five years, and now Huawei is moving into uncharted territory. Begging the question of whether a tri-fold phone like the Huawei Mate XT is a trendsetter or a one-off.

A leak of Xiaomi's patent for the design of a tri-fold smartphone has sparked speculation that Xiaomi intends to enter the triple-folding phone market, following the launch of the Huawei Mate XT.

Both Xiaomi and Honor have previously applied for a design patent on a double-hinged handset, according to public records.

Another smartphone OEM might join the tri-fold trend as a set of images was spotted in a Chinese database. The discovery made by 91Mobiles suggests that the Chinese OEM Xiaomi is

Xiaomi on Wednesday promoted a new triple-fold smartphone patent, following Huawei’s launch of the Mate XT, the industry’s first triple-fold smartphone,