INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Media playback is unsupported on your deviceMedia captionWATCH: First look at Huawei's folding phoneHuawei's foldable smartphone, the Mate
X, has, briefly, gone on sale in China.The handset went on sale for a price of 16,999 yuan (£1,900) via Huawei's online store and
reportedly sold out out "within minutes".Phone fans who did not manage to buy a Mate X on Friday will get another chance on 22 November when
a second batch will go on sale.Anyone buying one of the folding devices also gets 50% off screen-related repairs and replacements
The 5G Mate X is available in one model featuring an 8in (20.3cm) screen when unfolded
When closed it has two screens - one 6.8in and the smaller one 6.6in
Huawei said the phone was available in "limited quantities" for the first sale but did not give a precise number on how many were
sold.Growing numbers of phone-makers are starting to offer foldable devices
Samsung, Xiaomi and Motorola have both made flexible devices alongside smaller players such as Royole
Other phone-makers, including Apple and Google, are known to be experimenting with their own designs
The Huawei device was initially due to go on sale in June but the launch was delayed following the imposition of sanctions by the US
The phone is currently available only in China but Huawei has said it will be available in other countries at some point
Ben Wood, from analyst CCS Insight, said he was "increasingly sceptical" about Huawei's folding phone after using the Samsung Galaxy Fold
for a few weeks and spending some time with the just-released Motorola Razr
Huawei's decision to put the screen on the outside of the phone made it "incredibly vulnerable" to accidental damage, he said."That risk,
the eye-watering price and the decision to only ship it in China makes me wonder whether it is a super niche device that was more about
Huawei demonstrating 'the art of the possible' rather than having a credible commercial product," he told the TheIndianSubcontinent.
