By LU Keyan

Huawei's foldable Mate X2 went on sale Thursday, priced at 17,999 yuan ($2,790) and sold out in seconds.

The Mate X2 has an improved hinge, camera, core performance, and application experience. It is one of the first Huawei phones able to run the in-house HarmonyOS which will be launched in April.

On some second-hand sales platforms, the Mate X2 has been bid up to more than twice the original price, but there is no shortage of buyers. Memes are circulating calling the new phone “a wealth management product with a 100 percent yield."

A Weibo user who managed to buy a Mate X2 told Jiemian News that he is a fan of folding phones since the Mate X era and is accustomed to working on folding devices.

Not all folding phones are as popular as the Mate. Devices by Samsung, Motorola, and other manufacturers sell at the original price or less on second-hand platforms, but the X2’s success is more likely down to short supply than any features of the phone itself.

The Kirin 9000 chip in the Mate X2 is Huawei's last batch of proprietary chips due to the sanctions from Washington. The Mate 40 series and the upcoming P50 series will also be equipped with this chip, which must be better managed to ensure supply. Huawei's mobile phone inventory will therefore continue to be low.

Huawei's other series are also priced at a premium in the second-hand market. The Mate 40 costs up to 2,000 yuan over the official price.

Huawei is said to have no solution to break the chip shortage conundrum as restrictions continue, rumors were the company was planning to sell its entire mobile phone business, one that its founder REN Zhengfei sternly denied. YU Chengdong, chief executive of Huawei's consumer business group, recently said at a press conference that Huawei will continue to come up with new folding phones.