Huawei did officially launch its foldable smartphone, the Mate X at an event today in Shenzhen. However, it did surprise us with the announcement.

It was previously reported that there will be two versions of the Mate X – a Kirin 980 version with a Balong 5000 modem and a second version with the Kirin 990 5G chipset which has an integrated 5G modem. Both versions were expected to launch today but only the former launched. According to Huawei, the Kirin 990 5G version will not arrive until March 2020 and when it does, it will be called the Mate Xs.

Sadly, Huawei didn’t specify the date and also didn’t reveal the price.

We are not too surprised seeing as when the device was first announced in February, it had a Kirin 980 chipset. If it didn’t postpone the launch, the Mate X would have gone on sale before the Kirin 990 5G chipset was announced.

We also think Huawei is playing it safe by pushing the release of the Mate Xs to March 2020. By releasing the Mate X first, reviews and feedback will allow it to know how many units of the Mate Xs will be made or if changes should be made before its release.

When the Mate Xs launches next year, it will still be a powerful device as the next Kirin flagship processor won’t arrive until months later.

UP NEXT: Heres WHY Huawei had to pushback the commercial availability of Mate X foldable phone

The post Huawei Mate Xs: A Mate X powered by the Kirin 990 5G; arrives March 2020 appeared first on Gizmochina.