Huawei Mate X foldable smartphone delayed till September for additional testing

After unveiling the foldable smartphone at Mobile World Conference 2019, Huawei has delayed the release of Mate X. The company has decided to do so to avoid any instances like the Galaxy Fold that received a lot of flak after the display on some of its review units cracked or blacked-out easily.

The Huawei Mate X was supposed to be launched in June as per the company’s initial plans. However, in an interview with CNBC, a Huawei spokesperson stated that the company is doing some extra tests on Mate X and would release the foldable smartphone in September. He stated that Huawei is testing the smartphone with various carriers around the world and also working with developers to make sure their apps work when the device is unfolded.

The spokesperson further stated that Huawei is being more ‘cautious’ after the Galaxy Fold fiasco. “We don’t want to launch a product to destroy our reputation”, the spokesperson told CNBC.

Huawei is also expecting to get a boost in sales with the launch of Mate X, in spite of the company being blacklisted in the USA. The company representative stated that Mate X would run on Android OS as it was launched before the ban was announced. 

The company is making contingency plans including creating its custom operating system that could replace Android if the ban is not lifted.

Huawei CEO Richard Yu previously stated that Huawei’s custom OS named Hongmeng could be rolled out in the next six-nine months as ‘plan B’. The CEO, however, stated that Huawei would prefer to use Google due to its co-operation with the search engine giant in the past few years. 

“If we are forced to do it by ourselves, we are ready. We can do in the next six-to-nine months,” the spokesperson told CNBC.