After Samsung, Huawei delays launch of its foldable phone

Taking cues from Samsung’s Galaxy Fold fiasco, Huawei is delaying market launch of its own foldable Mate X. Mate X was set to debut in select markets come June, but according to a new Wall Street Journal report, Huawei has w pushed timeline to September – to improve quality of folding screen, something that has become a bone of contention in case of Samsung’s Galaxy Fold.

Galaxy Fold was pulled off shelves ahe of its scheduled April 26 launch after many review units of foldable started breaking – eir because of debris that me its way inside from under exposed areas of hinge, or when top protective layer of main display (which looked like it was a screen protector) was peeled off. Samsung recalled all review units and started an internal investigation to find out root cause(s) of problem. 

Only recently, Samsung came up and anunced that it will cancel all pre-orders if it failed to ship Galaxy Fold by end of May – Samsung missed that target as well. w, company has put forth a new timeline – and even though re’s exact time-frame quoted, Galaxy Fold will t hit shelves before end of July. only plausible explanation for delay is Samsung t being able to fix Galaxy Fold – to meet its ‘new’ quality standards. 

As for Huawei, delay could also be related to US ban. With future of its devices in jeopardy after Google, Qualcomm, ARM and or tech giants suspended business with it, last thing that Huawei needs w is a product with slightest chance of backfire – it's a risk that Huawei simply can’t take at this point of time. Trump ministration has given Huawei until August to sort of ease into things (so it could possibly ensure existing devices aren’t affected). delay will also give Huawei time to decide if Android is way to go – or it should relaunch  Mate X with its in-house operating system.   

Having said that, it won’t be surprising if re’s a furr delay in launch if Huawei is trying to sort things out with US government – and if at all, both parties are unable to reach some sort of agreement soon.     

Also Re:  Huawei Mate X Foldable 5G Phone First Look: Have Wings, Will Fly