Huawei set to launch Mate X foldable November 15 for US $2400, but only in China (pre-orders open now)

The Huawei Mate X made waves when it was shown off at MWC 2019, but its development has been plagued with delay after delay. Now, the foldable phone from the second-largest smartphone manufacturer is finally set to launch next month… but only in China. 

If you’re in the West, you probably won’t see too many Mate X’s in the wild. Huawei opened up pre-orders for the foldable today and is expecting to begin shipments on November 15th, but only in China. The Mate X is fairly expensive, even compared to Samsung’s pricey Galaxy Fold: pre-orders are pegged at CN ¥16999, or about US $2400.

That’s a lot of cash to drop on a smartphone, but the Mate X boasts high-end specs: a Kirin 980 SoC, 8 GB of RAM, 512 GB of storage, and a Balong 5000 modem with 5G support.

That “only in China” restriction is due to the slow international rollout of 5G, according to Huawei. Additionally, the company’s international sales strategy is “under review,” per an official statement. That likely means the current US-China Trade War will continue to hurt Huawei’s Western prospects. The lack of Google apps is another nail in the Mate X’s American coffin. 

One last point: while the Mate X is an impressive piece of tech, it won’t rule the Huawei roost for long. The Chinese giant also announced the Mate Xs, a foldable that will run on Huawei’s Kirin 990 SoC. The Mate Xs is set to release in March of next year, limiting the Mate X’s reign to four months.