The Huawei Mate X finally went on sale in China a few short weeks after it was officially launched in the country following multiple postponements because of concerns about the durability of its folding display. The device was finally launched for public consumption in late October – almost a year after it was originally shown off at MWC in Barcelona back in February.
Priced at an exorbitant 16,999 yuan (around Rs. 1.6 lakh / $2,400), the Mate X reportedly went on sale at 10:08 AM in China on Friday, but is said to have sold out in less than a minute. There’s no official word, however, on how many units were up for grabs. The next sale in China will be held on November 22, but it isn’t yet clear as to when the device will be launched globally.
The Huawei Mate X comes with flagship-grade hardware all around, but the highlight is a folding display panel that can be folded or unfolded to be used either as a tablet or a standard smartphone. It features an 8-inch (2,480 x 2,200) OLED panel that can be folded into a 6.6-inch main screen and a 6.36-inch secondary screen. It also comes with up to 12GB of RAM, up to 512GB of storage and a 4,400mAh battery.
The Mate X was originally expected to launched last June, but following all the troubles Samsung faced with the Galaxy Fold, Huawei postponed the launch date to carry out further tests on the device. After multiple postponements, it was finally launched in China in late October, which is when the company announced that it will first go on sale November 15th.
