The Huawei Mate X is coming in September the latest, according to the company's president of western Europe, Vincent Pang.

Previous reports claimed that it was delayed either due to the ongoing US trade ban or design issues, as evidenced by the Samsung Galaxy Fold before it too was held over. However, Huawei claims that neither is the case.

The delay to the firm's first foldable smartphone can actually be put down to the slow rollout of 5G, Pang revealed to TechRadar.

With Huawei's homeland of China still awaiting launch of 5G services and the UK (one of Huawei's strongest markets) only at the start of its 5G network coverage plans, the company decided to hold onto the Mate X until there was enough of a market ready to buy one.

As well as fold, the Huawei Mate X is a 5G handset, so the manufacturer wants it to be used at its fullest at launch.

Pang also confirmed that, regardless of the US/China trade disputes and the ban on US companies supplying Huawei, the Mate X will still be an Android phone as it was "already announced" before any Trump administration sanctions.

The executive also poured cold water on suggestions that the design will have changed by release: "It's basically the same hardware [as we showed at MWC]," he said.