Huawei Likely to Delay Launch of Mate X

Samsung Electronics is expected to have a one-runner race in the foldable phone market.
(Image credit: LetsGoDigital) 

Competition to launch foldable phones was expected to intensify among Samsung Electronics, Huawei and Xiaomi among others this September. But now Samsung Electronics is expected to have a one-runner race in the foldable phone market. Huawei is likely to postpone the launch of its first foldable phone and Xiaomi did not set the exact launch schedule for its first foldable phone, industry sources said on Aug. 22.

Samsung Electronics will launch the Galaxy Fold in mid-September after delaying it once. Initially, it planned to release the Galaxy Fold on April 26 in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia. However, some problems were raised after samples were delivered to local media outlets and experts.


Samsung Electronics recovered the samples and began to fix the problems. First of all, the screen protection film is hidden under the bezel so that it could not be intentionally taken off. A soft cushion was put underneath the hinge to prevent foreign objects from entering the hinge.

The Galaxy Fold features a 4.6-inch screen when folded and a 7.3-inch screen when unfolded. There are six cameras on the front and back. The foldable model weighs 263 grams. It supports wireless battery sharing, Samsung Pay and is highly likely to retail at 2.3 to 2.4 million won in the Korean market.

Huawei was expected to emerge as a competitor to Samsung in the foldable phone market. But it is expected to put off the launch of its foldable phone Mate X, according to CNET and TechRadar. Huawei has set the launch time between September and November. If the situation is not favorable, the company will launch the model in November at the latest.

Huawei took the wraps off the foldable phone Mate X at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Spain in February and announced that it will launch the Mate X in June. Then, the company postponed its release to September in order to fix problems and boost the yield of the product. Industry experts expect Huawei to launch it within this year. The model was already certified by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. It has reportedly reached the stage of mass production and close to going on sale in the market.

"Now, completeness weighs more than becoming the world’s first in the foldable phone sector," an industry official said. “Even though the Galaxy Fold will garner much more attention if Huawei put off the September launch of the Mate X, Samsung Electronics will feel a bigger burden if another controversy is stirred up over defects of the Galaxy Fold.”

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