After one and another delay for its launch in China, the Mate X, Huawei's highly-anticipated foldable phone, is facing another delay again.
The Mate X was first unveiled in February at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. At a launch event held in Shenzhen last month, Huawei announced the Mate X will be available from November 15 in China.
However, with two days to go until customers can finally buy the device, a report from 163.com said the date would be delayed again.
The report didn’t mention the reason behind this. But it quoted previous remarks by He Gang, president of Huawei’s consumer business mobile phone product line, as saying the challenges facing the Mate X was bigger than expected.
At the launch event held in Shenzhen on October 23, Huawei announced the Mate X will be available from November 15 at 16,999 yuan ($2,400) for a model with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.
"Our strategy is based on carriers' 5G roll out in different regions," said a spokesman for Huawei. "So far, Huawei has made the Huawei Mate X available in the China market on Nov 15. A global launch plan is under review."
The Mate X is a 5G phone with Huawei’s Kirin 980 processor and Barong 5000 modem, and it has a dual-cell 4,500mAh battery that can be filled to 85 percent in half an hour with 55W fast charging.
While it’s flat, the screen is 8 inches, and when it’s closed it’s like having a phone with a 6.6-inch screen on the front and a 6.38-inch panel on the back.
Rather than opening like a book to reveal a larger screen on the inside, like the Galaxy Fold, the Mate X has a wraparound outside display that's accessible even when the phone is closed.
At the device’s original launch event at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona back in February, Huawei announced the phone will cost 2,299 euros ($2565) in Europe but also said China’s price won’t be higher than that in Europe.
