Huawei launches foldable smartphone in China
The Chinese company’s new foldable smartphone will compete with Samsung’s Galaxy Fold, which launched last month
Huawei has launched its eagerly awaited foldable smartphone, 5G Mate X – but only in China.
The smartphone has been delayed twice this year, as Huawei was forced to deal with tech supply disruptions caused by a US trade blacklist imposed on the firm in May, Reuters reported.
The new foldable 5G-enabled device, a competitor to Samsung’s Galaxy Fold, which went on sale last month, will be launched officially on November 15 in China with a starting price of ¥16,999 (£1,860/€2,161), a Huawei spokesman said.
Its global launch plan remains under review.
The company announced the launch on Weibo and at an event in Shenzhen, where it also revealed it had shipped 200 million phones so far this year.
A subsequent model, the Mate Xs, will be launching next year.
Huawei’s third-quarter revenue rose by 27 per cent due to strong sales in China and higher shipments of models launched before the May ban.
The operating system that the 5G Mate X will ship with is currently unconfirmed, amid signs that Harmony, Huawei's proposed replacement for the Android operating system, may be years away.
