Huawei Mate X2 might miss 2020 launch window due to US sanctions

Huawei’s Mate X2 foldable has apparently been delayed from its 2020 launch window.
A display industry insider says that US sanctions are to blame for the delay.

The Huawei Mate X was one of the first foldable phones to be announced, alongside Samsung’s Galaxy Fold and the Royole Flexpai. We’ve since seen the Mate XS launch as an incremental upgrade, and we were expecting a follow-up in the Mate X2.

Now, display industry analyst Ross Young has tweeted that the Huawei Mate X2 might not launch in 2020 due to the ongoing US sanctions against the Chinese manufacturer. Check out the tweet below.

Shouldn’t be a surprise, but we hear the Mate X2 won’t launch in 2020 due to the US government’s restrictions on Huawei. We have had to lower our foldable forecasts…

— Ross Young (@DSCCRoss) September 14, 2020

This would be a disappointing turn of events if true, as it would mean one less foldable phone option for consumers. It’s highly unlikely that the Mate X2 would’ve had support for Google integration, but that didn’t stop Huawei from launching the Mate XS in Europe anyway. And we thought it was a great foldable if you could overlook the lack of Google support.

Washington’s latest sanctions target Huawei’s supply and production of chipsets as well as memory and other components though. So getting high-end chipsets, RAM, and other parts may have been a significant challenge for the new foldable. In saying so, the Mate XS screen was made by Chinese firm BOE.

The most recent Mate X2 rumors point to a phone with an in-folding design, much like the Galaxy Fold line. This would be a departure from previous Mate foldables, but an in-folding design would protect the primary display from scratches. Speaking of durability, it’s believed that the new Mate foldable wouldn’t be equipped with ultra-thin glass as seen on the Galaxy Z Flip and Galaxy Z Fold 2.

Next: We asked, you told us — You think the US has gone too far against Huawei