2 days Ago By Peter Holmes
New sellers on Australian eBay and elsewhere are trying to cash in on the release of the new Huawei trifold Mate XT smartphone, by offering handsets for up to A$11,173, representing a markup of more than 160%. But, be warned, the phones may not have all the functions you expect. The pioneering Chinese smartphone was unveiled last week after months of speculation.
There are millions of pre-orders in China for the Mate XT, which starts at $19,999 yuan (A$4,171 on latest currency exchange). Massive markups on Huawei Mate XT being sold on eBay in Australia. It has been widely reported that whatever stock was available at launch has sold out, and that people are now joining a queue.
One tech reseller has the entry level 256G 16GB RAM Mate XT phone for A$9,577.40. The top-end 1TB 16GB RAM Mate XT is A$11,173.
90. It said the phone was in stock. To test stock numbers, I put 40 of the top end Mate XT phones into a cart, and was told I could have them, for $446,956.
The fine print states: “This is a Chinese edition, and only supports the English/Chinese menu. The system is Harmony OS NEXT, doesn’t support Google Mobile Service, no Google Play Store, doesn’t support Facebook, Twitter, and other social apps.” A new eBay seller, with only 29 sales to their name, was offering the entry level 256G 16GB RAM phone to Australians for A$8,700 on Wednesday.
The 512G 16GB RAM was selling for A$8,999, while the 1TB 16GB RAM Mate XT was on the market for A$9,999. Screenshot from Huawei Mate XT promo video. The seller offered free shipping worldwide from ChangSha China.
They said the estimated delivery time was November 12-14, but warned customs processing could push those dates back. Three of each phone was said to be available. If the seller sold all nine phones they could make tens of thousands of dollars in profit.
Nikkei Asia reported on Wednesday that pre orders had topped five million on Huawei’s homepage. A sales rep at a Huawei store in Guangzhou told the site it wouldn’t be available in store until February or March 2025. Chinese media are said to be referring to the Mate XT – which costs 10 times what many locals are used to paying for their device – as “electronic Moutai”, in reference to a high-end Chinese baijiu liquor, Nikkei Asia says.
.
