(Yicai Global) Nov. 18 -- Huawei Technologies retails its Mate X at CNY16,999 (USD2,424), but after the foldable smartphones quickly sold out on the first days of sales scalpers marked up the price by more than three times, the Beijing News reported today.

Huawei started selling its first foldable handset at 10.08 a.m. on Nov. 15, and the first batch sold out in minutes. On one second-hand trading platform yesterday, Mate X phones were being resold for between CNY40,000 and CNY60,000 (USD5,701 and USD8,552) each, the report said.

Samsung's foldable handset, Galaxy Fold, has also been on sale twice recently, selling out quickly on both occasions. But its price has not been as heavily hyped as the Mate X.

Shipments of both brands are so small that the makers have limited sales to once every three days. Huawei will sell the Mate X again on Nov. 18 and 22, the Shenzhen-based company said on its website without specifying how many units will be available.