Huawei’s futuristic foldable smartphone gets delayed for a second time

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  The Huawei Mate X uses one big wraparound display made by BOE. [credit: Huawei ]

Samsung isn't the only company having trouble launching a foldable smartphone. Samsung's main foldable competitor, Huawei, is also delaying its foldable smartphone, the Mate X. TechRadar attended a press event at Huawei's Shenzhen headquarters and learned the phone is "unlikely to come out before November."

This marks the second delay for the futuristic smartphone. The Mate X was originally announced as launching in the "middle of 2019," and then shortly after the announcement of the Trump administration's export ban, Huawei told CNBC the phone would be delayed to September. It is theorized that the reason Samsung rushed the Galaxy Fold to market with such inadequate testing was because, after investing millions into the development of foldable displays, it had its foldable display technology stolen and had to scramble to beat its competitors to market. It's ironic, then, that the viable competitor Samsung has in the foldable space also delayed its device so much.

Huawei's Mate X is easily the most futuristic looking phone of the year—assuming it comes out this year. A giant, 8-inch display wraps around the front and back of the device, and when closed, only the front half of the display lights up, giving you a 6.38-inch smartphone. When it's time for some serious media consumption or multi-tasking, the device opens up into an 8-inch tablet. It sounds like an ideal form factor—a phone when you want a phone, and a tablet when you want a tablet. Smartphone futurism comes at a price, though: the Mate X has a breathtaking $2,600 price tag.

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