Huawei delays Mate X foldable phone launch

Huawei is reportedly delaying the release of its $2,600 Mate X. The Chinese tech giant is pushing the foldable phone's launch date from this summer to September, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

Huawei is delaying sales of the Mate X, in part, to improve the quality of the phone's foldable screen, Vincent Peng, a senior vice president at the company, told the Journal during a tech conference in Hong Kong. 

"We're doing a lot of tests," Peng told the Journal, adding that Huawei aims to release the phone as soon as it can.

Huawei didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

This comes after Samsung paused its release of the Galaxy Fold this spring. The $1,980 foldable phone was scheduled to go on sale in the US on April 26, but Samsung hit the brakes right before the phone's launch due to numerous screen problems on review units. Samsung said a new release date for the phone will be announced in "the coming weeks."

The Mate X delay is just the latest challenge for Huawei, the world's No. 1 telecom supplier and No. 2 phone manufacturer. In May, the US blacklisted networking gear from Huawei and President Donald Trump signed an executive order essentially banning the Chinese company due to national security concerns. As a result, some tech companies have cut ties with Huawei. 

Peng said the Mate X delay wasn't due to the supply-chain issues, according to the Journal.

The foldable phone was unlikely to launch in the US. In May, UK carriers Vodafone and EE said they were pulling the Mate X from their device lineups for their 5G network launches.