Huawei has again hinted that it will release an improved version of its Mate X foldable smartphone next year. The foldable device will come with a better hinge, tougher screen, and faster processor. This was disclosed by Richard Yu, head of Huawei’s consumer business, who spoke to Frandroid during a trip to Huawei’s headquarters. The CEO also disclosed that Huawei intends to bring the current Mate X to Europe, seemingly in the first quarter of 2020.

The Mate X was released last month after a long wait and the device was put on sale in China for $2,400. The foldable phone comes with an out-folding design where half of the foldable’s screen can flip around back so that you have a screen on both sides when it’s folded closed. That design has made it one of the better options during the debut year of folding phones since others like Samsung’s Galaxy Fold have had much more prominent hinges that create gaps or creases in the design.

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The folding phone trend is expected to expand next year, particularly with the arrival of Motorola’s new Razr. Other companies, like Samsung, are likely to release upgraded versions of their existing designs. We also expect Samsung to come out with something more durable than the fragile expensive units we saw this year.

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Chinese e-commerce company Jingdong (JD.com) recently held its Luxury Goods Festival-Autumn and Winter Mobile Phone Fashion Festival. The company unwittingly listed the top 10 “unaffordable” mobile phones and a look at the list would leave you speechless. The most expensive of the lot cost as much as 2.47 million yuan (about $353,000)! That model is the Vertu Signature Cobra Limited Edition. The phone was launched back in May 2017 and even came with an offer of delivery by Helicopter. We doubt if the device will ever get sold out since it is still listed over 2 years after.

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Vertu is known for its premium phone designs with gold or platinum accents as the case may be. So, it is no surprise that the second-most-expensive model on the list is also a Vertu model. Next on the line is the Vertu Aster P which was launched in October 2018. The gold plated version is listed on JD.com for 221,800 yuan ($31K).

The third phone is Huawei Mate X 5G foldable smartphone which holds the record as the industry’s first 5G foldable display mobile phone. The Mate X has a recommended retail price of 16,999 yuan (~$2400)but Jingdong’s spot price for the device was 69999 yuan(~$10K). It is presently sold out.

The Vertuu Aster P made it again into the list with a price tag of 46800 yuan which should be for the Ink Black and White variants. Swiss watchmaker 8848 released the M5 luxury smartphone and it is ranked at number 5. The rest of the top 10 is made up of the Huawei Mate 30 RS Porsche design, a light business phone priced at 15999 yuan (~$2286). It is followed by the Samsung Galaxy Fold, the world’s first mass-produced foldable phone with a price tag of 15,999 yuan (~$2286). A number 8 is the iPhone 11 Pro Max, priced at 12,699 yuan (~$1800). OPPO Find X Lamborghini model, which costs 9999 yuan ($1400) claims the ninth spot. Finally, the Royole Flexpai completes the top 10 with a 9,998 yuan price tag (~$1400).

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After months of delays, Chinese tech giant Huawei finally started selling its much-anticipated Huawei Mate X foldable smartphone in its home market last week. It was reported that all the units of the device were sold out in less than a minute.

Now, it has been confirmed that the next sale of the smartphone will take place on 22nd November. However, the smartphone is already available for purchase in the Chinese market, but not through official channels.

As per the report, the Huawei Mate X 5G is available for purchase in China through third-party websites. However, the cost of the device through these channels is substantially high. While the official pricing starts at 16,999 Yuan (~$2,420), the third-party sellers are charging as much as 60,000 Yuan (~$8,557) for the same device. The reason for such high pricing is being attributed to the lack of supply of the smartphone from the company.

The Huawei Mate X foldable smartphone was first showcased by the company during Mobile World Congress 2019 in February this year. According to Yan Zhanmeng, Research Director of Counterpoint Research, the company will manage to sell more than 100,000 units of the Huawei Mate X smartphone.

The smartphone features a large 8-inch screen with a 2480 x 2200 pixels screen resolution and an 8:7.1 aspect ratio when unfolded with pretty thin bezels. When folded, it transforms into a dual-display phone – one side is a 6.6-inch (2480 x 1148 pixels) 19.5:9 display while the other is a 6.38-inch (2480 x 892 pixels) 25:9 display.

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It comes packed with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. It has dual SIM support (nano only) but only SIM 1 supports 5G. You can also swap out the second SIM card for Huawei’s NM card up to 256GB. The device also comes with the 7nm Balong 5000 modem which brings 5G support to the device.

The phone runs the EMUI 9.1.1 custom interface, which is based on Android 9 Pie operating system out-of-the-box. As for the connectivity options, the device supports NFC, dual-frequency GPS, Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, and USB Type-C port.

The device has two built-in batteries, which offers a total capacity of 4,500mAh. Huawei has also debuted its new SupercCharge fast charging technology which supports up to 55W. The company claims that the new SuperCharge allows users to charge the device from empty to 85 percent in just 30 minutes.

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At the launch event for the Mate X 5G foldable smartphone yesterday, Huawei disclosed that the device will go on limited sales in China on November 15 with a staggering 16,999 yuan ($2,403) price tag. The company did not divulge any information regarding the global launch during the event. However, a statement credited to a Huawei’s spokesperson reveals that the company is still considering if the Mate X should be launched outside China, according to CNBC.

The Mate X was first unveiled at the MWC 2019 earlier in February in Barcelona and was originally scheduled to launch this summer. The Galaxy Fold debacle forced Huawei to postpone the launch scheduled for June in order to ensure the device doesn’t experience such issues.

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The company’s position has now changed with the disclosure that the Mate X global launch remains “under review.” The spokesperson stated specifically that; “Our strategy is based on carriers’ 5G roll out in different regions. So far, Huawei is making the Huawei Mate X available in the China market from November 15th. A global launch plan is under review.”

While the delay is hinged on 5G rollout, the US trade embargo which has made it difficult to instal Google Play services on its latest phones may have also played a role. However, we expect the company to release the 5G foldable phone is selected markets soon.

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