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A Huawei Technologies Mate XT smartphone arranged in Hong Kong on Sep. 24, 2024.

Lam Yik | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Huawei launched its trifold smartphone outside of China on Tuesday, as it plots a comeback in international markets after getting hammered by U.S. sanctions.

The Mate XT will have a starting price tag of 3,499 euros ($3,660). Huawei has yet to announce in which countries the model will be available, but the company has told users to look out for local announcements.

The handset was first released in China last year and drew global intrigue for being the first ever trifold phone. Normal foldable devices can be folded once in half either vertically or horizontally. The Mate XT has two points at which it can fold and can display content on a single, double or triple screen.

Huawei was once the biggest smartphone player in the world and challenged Apple and Samsung in the premium segment of the market.

U.S. sanctions beginning in 2019 cut off Huawei’s access to advance chips and Google’s Android operating system, causing its market share to plunge. It was all but wiped out from international markets as other brands filled the gap. Huawei’s smartphone market share outside of China stands at just 0.3%, according to data from research firm International Data Corporation.

However, in China, Huawei’s market share grew to 17% in 2024 from 12% the year before, according to the IDC, thanks to a comeback that began late in 2023 when it released a smartphone containing a fairly advanced chip. The component surprised many because U.S. sanctions over the past few years have sought to cut China’s access to advanced semiconductor technology.

Huawei is hoping to bring that momentum to its overseas market, focusing on high-end devices.

Francisco Jeronimo, vice president for data and analytics at IDC, told CNBC that the the Mate XT will not be sold in large volumes and is likely aimed at those wanting to show off that they can afford such a pricey device.

“I think what they [Huawei] believe that the trifold can be a unique value proposition and because it is very expensive, they aim to target wealthy individuals who are more keen on showing off they have the money versus having the best experience you can get,” Jeronimo said.

Still, even if Huawei were to sell half a million units of the Mate XT, it could generate $1.5 billion in revenue, Jeronimo added.

The Mate XT will be a test of Huawei’s appeal outside of China. For one, it will not be using Google’s Android operating system, which is the most popular in the world.

While users of Android phones can access millions of apps via the Google Play Store, Huawei’s app store does not offer some of the most popular Google apps that people outside of China rely on, which could hamper the Mate XT’s appeal.

“Lack of Google still is a ‘gaping hole’ for mainstream international market especially those who will pay top dollar for a tri-fold hardware but which want to run Netflix or Google’s Play Store or the latest cutting edge GenAI Google Gemini features,” Neil Shah, partner at Counterpoint Research, told CNBC.

Gemini is Google’s artificial intelligence chatbot.

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Amazon launches second batch of Kuiper internet satellites, taking on Elon Musk’s Starlink

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Amazon launches second batch of Kuiper internet satellites, taking on Elon Musk's Starlink

An Atlas V rocket of United Launch Alliance (ULA) lifts off from Space Launch Complex 41 at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on June 23, 2025.

Gregg Newton | Afp | Getty Images

Amazon‘s second batch of Kuiper internet satellites reached low Earth orbit on Monday, adding to its plans for a massive constellation and ramping up competition with SpaceX’s Starlink.

A United Launch Alliance rocket carrying 27 Kuiper satellites lifted off from a launchpad at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 6:54 a.m. ET, according to a livestream.

“We have ignition and lift off of United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying satellites for Amazon’s Project Kuiper internet constellation, continuing a new chapter in low Earth orbit satellite connectivity,” Ben Chilton, an ordnance engineer at ULA, said on the livestream following the launch.

Monday’s mission was rescheduled twice, owing to inclement weather and a problem with the rocket booster.

Read more CNBC Amazon coverage

Six years ago, Amazon unveiled its plans to build a constellation of internet-beaming satellites in low Earth orbit, called Project Kuiper. The service will compete directly with Elon Musk’s Starlink, which currently dominates the market and has 8,000 satellites in orbit.

Amazon in April successfully sent up 27 Kuiper internet satellites into low Earth orbit, a region of space that’s within 1,200 miles of the Earth’s surface.

The 54 craft currently in orbit are the start of Amazon’s planned constellation of 3,236 satellites. The company has to meet a Federal Communications Commission deadline to launch half of its total constellation, or 1,618 satellites, by July 2026.

The company has booked more than 80 launches with several providers, including rival SpaceX, to deliver Kuiper its satellites into orbit.

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Tesla stock pops 10% as Musk touts ‘successful’ robotaxi Austin launch

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Tesla stock pops 10% as Musk touts 'successful' robotaxi Austin launch

A Tesla Inc. robotaxi on Oltorf Street in Austin, Texas, US, on Sunday, June 22, 2025. T

Tim Goessman | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Tesla‘s driverless robotaxi finally hit the road this weekend, sending shares of the electric vehicle maker up 10% on Monday.

The EV giant debuted autonomous rides in Austin, Texas, on Sunday, opening the service to a limited number of riders by invitation only. CEO Elon Musk said in a post on social media platform X that customers were charged a flat fee of $4.20.

“Super congratulations to the @Tesla_AI software & chip design teams on a successful @Robotaxi launch!! Culmination of a decade of hard work. Both the AI chip and software teams were built from scratch within Tesla,” he said in a post.

One tester wrote on X that they did 11 with the service with “zero issues.” Musk reposted numerous firsthand encounters with the services.

Read more CNBC tech news

Musk has long promised a driverless Tesla robotaxi fleet to investors, amping up the pressure to deliver.

The launch puts Tesla head-to-head with Alphabet‘s Waymo, which is already operating a fleet of robotaxis in several cities across the U.S. and reached 10 million trips last month.

Musk told CNBC’s David Faber last month that Tesla aims to have “Hundreds of thousands, if not over a million” self-driving cars in the U.S. by the end of next year. In May, Musk first announced plans to launch the service in Austin, with later debuts set for Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Heading into the launch, Tesla faced pushback from a group of Democratic lawmakers in Texas and public safety activists urged the company to delay the debut.

Tesla’s full-self driving capabilities, which feature a standard FSD or FSD supervised, include automatic steering and parking, but have been linked to accidents and fatalities, according to data tracked by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

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Trump Media approves $400 million stock buyback

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Trump Media approves 0 million stock buyback

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media upon arrival at Joint Base Andrews following a visit to North Carolina, in Maryland, U.S., June 10, 2025.

Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters

Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of Truth Social, Truth+, and the fintech platform Truth.Fi, said Monday its board has approved a stock buyback of up to $400 million.

Trump Media stock rose about 3% on the news premarket.

The Florida-based company, which trades under the ticker DJT on both Nasdaq and NYSE Texas, said the buyback could include both common stock and warrants, executed through open market transactions. All repurchased shares would be retired.

“Since Trump Media now has approximately $3 billion on its balance sheet, we have the flexibility to take actions like this which support strong shareholder returns, as we continue exploring further strategic opportunities,” said CEO Devin Nunes in a release announcing the move.

President Donald Trump, who indirectly owns more than 114 million shares of the company through a revocable trust, remains the largest shareholder.

Read more CNBC tech news

The announcement follows Trump Media’s $2.5 billion raise last month from institutional investors — one of the largest bitcoin treasury plays by a public company. The company said it would use those funds, which include $1.5 billion in equity and $1 billion in convertible notes, to buy bitcoin, with custody provided by Anchorage Digital and Crypto.com.

Calling bitcoin a “crown jewel,” Nunes said the move was designed to defend the company against what he described as “discrimination by financial institutions” against conservative businesses. The funds will also support the launch of Trump-branded exchange-traded funds and other crypto products later this year, pending regulatory approval.

Trump Media said the buyback will be funded independently and will not affect the capital already earmarked for its bitcoin treasury initiative.

In February, Trump Media reported a $400.9 million net loss for the full year on just $3.6 million in annual revenue. The company cited legal fees and a revised advertising revenue-sharing agreement as contributing factors.

Despite the losses, Trump Media said it ended the year with $776.8 million in cash and short-term investments.

The company, which went public via special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, last year, now trades with a market capitalization of around $4.9 billion.

The stock nearly doubled in 2024 as Trump won the U.S. presidential election in November. As of Friday’s close, the stock was down nearly 48% this year.

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