Huawei unveils foldable PC with stylus support, testing flexible office market

Huawei on Wednesday unveiled its latest HUAWEI MateBook Fold Ultimate Design at a product launch event, introducing the company's first foldable computer featuring native stylus input under the HarmonyOS system.

The move marks Huawei's latest attempt to explore the high-end flexible PC segment, where manufacturers have been experimenting with foldable displays but have yet to achieve widespread adoption. By adding stylus interaction and cross-device capabilities, Huawei is seeking to expand the potential use cases of foldable computers beyond screen portability, although market acceptance remains uncertain.

The device features an 18-inch dual-layer OLED display when unfolded, with a resolution of 3,296 by 2,472 pixels and can be folded into a 13-inch form factor. It runs HarmonyOS 6.1 powered by the Kirin X90 Plus chip.

Huawei said the device adopts 40-micron ultra-thin glass and a reinforced structural design, with the display panel rated for 500,000 folding cycles and 500,000 stylus touches. The company also highlighted improvements in impact resistance and bending durability compared with the previous generation.

The bundled M-Pen 3 stylus supports system-wide annotation, handwriting on documents and webpages, AI-assisted selection and remote pointer functions for presentations. Huawei said HarmonyOS on the device supports more than 19,000 native applications and offers features including cross-device file transfer, application continuity and offline meeting transcription.

Foldable PCs are not a new category. Previously, companies including Lenovo and Samsung have explored similar form factors. Lenovo launched the ThinkPad X1 Fold series with flexible OLED displays and stylus support, while Samsung has extended its foldable technology experience from smartphones to larger-screen devices.

Huawei's approach focuses on integrating handwriting, flexible screen modes and device connectivity within its HarmonyOS ecosystem. Compared with traditional PC platforms such as Windows and macOS, however, the maturity of software ecosystems and compatibility with professional applications will remain key factors affecting wider adoption.

The launch event also showcased Huawei's broader terminal strategy, with new notebooks, smartphones and wearable devices presented alongside the foldable PC. The company has continued to emphasize seamless connectivity among different devices, including smartphones, tablets, computers and smartwatches.

The event also highlighted products from Huawei's automotive ecosystem partner. The move reflects a broader industry trend in which consumer electronics companies are expanding into smart vehicle ecosystems, with features such as account integration, navigation transfer and in-car digital services becoming part of competition in the intelligent vehicle market.