Huawei pushes back foldable Mate X launch as its product plans for 2019 get shredded
2019 was supposed to be the year that foldable smartphones shook up what has been a market with one candy bar form factor after another. With the Galaxy Fold currently MIA, hopes had been pinned on the Huawei Mate X. Unfortunately, Huawei has announced that what was supposed to be a June rollout has now been pushed back to at least September. However, Huawei seems to be putting up a smokescreen to explain the delay by shifting the blame to Samsung, not its run in with the US Government.
Speaking to CNBC, a Huawei spokesperson said that the delay was due to additional testing to ensure it avoids the hardware issues that plagued the Galaxy Fold review units. "We don't want to launch a product to destroy our reputation," the spokesperson told CNBC. While that could well be true, the fact that Huawei has been scrambling to find an alternative to Google's Android operating system is, however, the likely culprit.
Despite this, the Huawei spokesperson insisted that the Mate X would launch with Google's Android onboard as it was unveiled before the company was unceremoniously dumped on the US government's Entity List. Undoubtedly, Huawei's preference would be to launch the device with Android, but the new planned launch window is more in line with reports that this is when Huawei could start shipping new devices like the Mate 30 with its HongMeng/Oak OS or even Jolla's Sailfish OS, albeit the Russian Aurora fork.