Folding screen mobile phone market smoke rises again.
At the end of 2021, a number of mobile phone manufacturers have released folding screen mobile phone products, and the folding screen mobile phone that has been stirred up seems to become the protagonist of the C position in the market this time.
Market heat is only one aspect of attracting consumers, and the improvement of the use experience is the driving force for the popularity of folding screen mobile phones. Since 2018, the technical route of folding screen mobile phones has changed for more than one generation, but the poor use experience has always been a problem that hinders the popularity of folding screen mobile phones.
However, the innovation and imagination space brought by the folding screen are not less attractive. In the past one or two years, under the goal of "rushing to the high-end" of many manufacturers, folding screens have become a field that must be competed for at present.
Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO and other manufacturers have all invested heavily in folding screen mobile phone products, and there are news that vivo, Apple's folding screen mobile phones are also on the road.
Folding form is only the first step of innovation, to meet the use of feelings can truly be accepted by the public, then in the manufacturer to solve pain points, upgrade the evolution of the efforts, folding screen mobile phone when can act as the main machine?
In January 2022, Honor's first folding screen flagship model will appear on the market, and the concept of "one in place" may bring different ideas to the troubled folding screen mobile phone.
Born for pain points
Mobile phone manufacturers in the mobile phone screen is not less tossed, as the most easily perceived by the user components, after experiencing the touch screen, large screen, full screen, curved screen and other evolutionary process, folding screen has become the most eye-catching innovation direction in the past two years.
However, since consumers began to contact the product in 2019, the folding screen does not seem to meet everyone's imagination, and evaluations such as "crease", "easy to damage", "poor software adaptation" and so on have become the user's impression labels for the folding screen. Although folding screen mobile phones are commonly found in various brand stores, their market potential is far from being developed.
According to Strategy Analytics' research data, Samsung and Huawei have mass-produced folding screens in 2019 and vigorously publicized the momentum, and the shipments of folding screens are still less than 1 million. Until 2021, a number of folding screens with different forms have been listed, but sales are still in the level of one million units.
The crux of the matter is that in order to achieve folding, the mobile phone has to make a number of compromises, the weight is too large, the image is discounted, the battery life is urgent, and the demand points are all folded in front of the folding screen.
Moreover, the performance of the folding screen itself is not satisfactory, and the crease reminds everyone all the time that the folding screen is not ready now, and the use experience that is not expected will also put the folding screen in an embarrassing situation.
The popularity of folding screens needs to be launched by upstream suppliers to launch more mature and low-cost supply chain solutions, but this is a chicken-egg problem, and the enthusiasm of the supply chain depends on the increase in the shipment of folding screen mobile phones.
Therefore, providing an excellent user experience has become the top priority of the current folding screen mobile phone. At present, there is still a lack of a folding screen flagship that can impress people's hearts, and it is difficult to satisfy the creases, portability, ease of use, and performance that users really care about at the same time.
Just as there is an invisible threshold straddling the front road of folding screen mobile phones becoming the main force of daily life, the folding screen that is identified as the next innovative direction has fallen into the embarrassing situation of "curved height and low".
However, this embarrassing situation, Glory wants to break.
On December 31, Honor CEO Zhao Ming first proposed the concept of "one in place" at the 2021 People's Finance Summit Forum, saying that Magic V achieved innovative breakthroughs in the three dimensions of folding form, performance experience and application scenarios, and is a rare folding screen flagship in the industry that does not compromise and comprehensively takes into account the user experience. It is worth mentioning that the Glory Magic V real machine is also officially unveiled here, silver color, coupled with the left and right folding forms together seamlessly, especially eye-catching.
How to achieve "one in place", Glory obviously has its own thinking. Only solving one or two pain points is not enough to impress consumers, the market needs is not a toy with a novel form, but a folding screen flagship with comprehensive strength and hard strength that can meet more application scenarios.
In the network survey, users' expectations for the comprehensive quality of folding screen mobile phones have not decreased. "Good camera and video", "application adaptation", "strong performance" these keywords that once haunted the mainstream flagship machine are absent, from "can be used" to "easy to use", is the folding screen urgently need to cross the threshold.
"One in place" flagship aircraft
The re-heating of the folding screen has a lot to do with the progress of supply chain and technology, but the mechanical structure design and processing of the hinge is still the biggest hardware problem of the folding screen mobile phone.
Simply combing the history of the development of folding screens is the history of hinge technology iteration. On the basis of mechanical kinematic ability, this part of the structure should take into account multiple dimensions such as durability, corrosion resistance and cost control, and put forward higher requirements for high-precision processing of metals and material selection, and the technical difficulty can be imagined.
In the early days of the folding screen models, the maturity of the hinge is still relatively rudimentary. For example, the Samsung Galaxy Fold adopts a single-track design of the inner fold U-shaped scheme, in order to weaken the crease, leave enough space for the screen to bend, and leave a gap in the folding place, which sacrifices portability to a certain extent and violates the original intention of the folding screen. Although the folding radius is larger, the 8-inch screen is exposed and is easily worn.
| U-shaped hinge closure effect Image source: UP main victory crepe crepe video screenshot
Later iterations of the product hinge scheme has a more suitable direction, double slide rail than single slide rail, more to ensure the support and accuracy of the screen when bent. Compared with the U-shape, the water drop type solution has a larger bend radius of the screen, which can effectively reduce the pressure of bending on the screen.
From the current perspective of God, the inward fold, the water drop type, and the double slide rail are more mature options.
Honor Magic V was launched late, and although it lost a certain opportunity, it can also have more deep thinking. In a previous interview with the media, Zhao Ming said that the Honor Magic V is the most complete and best folding mobile phone with the current structural design, surpassing all folding screens on the market. Why does Glory have such confidence? Based on the current disclosure information, we can see one thing or two. The Honor Magic V hinge features a teardrop-type scheme that minimizes creases and eliminates gaps when folded, as mentioned above.
Of course, the advanced nature of the hinged structure alone is far from enough, and the "best design" is more important to the integrity of the structure.
In the advertising film released by Honor and the real machine exposed by Zhao Ming, it can be seen that when the folding screen of Magic V is closed, the fuselage can be tightly sewn and tightly fitted, maintaining the feeling of hand and hand while preventing foreign objects from entering the scratched screen.
Due to the existence of the hinge mechanical structure and the use of a larger screen, the folding screen is inevitably somewhat thick, and some manufacturers make certain compromises in order to make a certain compromise and use the upper and lower folding scheme, but this inevitably violates the original intention of the folding screen: both portable and large-screen experience.
But Magic V did not compromise, it adopted a more mainstream left and right symmetrical folding method, the large screen after the expansion is very suitable for games, videos, reading, office and other scenes, and to ensure the balance of the weight of the fuselage while ensuring the large-screen experience, which is also one of the practicality signs of the first folding screen of Honor.
Another question: Is the folding screen a simple switch between a phone and a tablet?
Of course not, the folding screen as a new form of natural system adaptation, can meet more application scenarios, its playability far more than ordinary mobile phones. According to Zhao Ming, Glory is very complete in terms of the conversion of large and small screens, the adaptation of the APP when opening and closing. Under the hardware configuration, the system and intelligent interaction experience adapted by the Honor Magic V give the folding screen "soul".
What is more valuable is that the comprehensive quality of the Honor Magic V is quite capable of playing, with a high-resolution screen, fast charge, telephoto lens and other flagship level configuration, will also be equipped with the latest flagship chip, not surprisingly is the Snapdragon 8 Gen1, the processor score broke through the 1 million mark, with the glory of the underlying optimization technology, it is foreseeable that Magic V will be the industry's strongest performance folding screen flagship model, which is also the first time that the folding screen is equipped with the industry's latest chip, which can compete with the mainstream flagship model in terms of performance.
Glorious high-end evolutionary theory
"The folding screen is the most high-tech concentrated performance of today's mobile phone industry." As Zhao Ming said, just like the application of technology such as fingerprint under the screen, camera under the screen, and fast charging technology, the folding screen, as an exploration of new forms, represents the direction of technological progress in the industry.
At present, the high-end mobile phone market, after Huawei is blocked, domestic mobile phone manufacturers are difficult to have a role to compete with Apple and Samsung, in the third quarter of 2021, Xiaomi, vivo and OPPO together account for 34% of the global mobile phone market, but still dominated by low-end models, and the high-end market with higher profits is not much competitive.
To rush to the high end, courage and strength are indispensable. Android manufacturers with a first-mover advantage have the opportunity to impact the high-end and surpass Apple in the folding screen market. Now, Glory is ready to seize this opportunity to draw the best smile curve after its independence. In fact, its technical control ability is vividly reflected in the 2021 flagship Magic 3 series.
Honor will be 12 to 18 months of flagship machine development cycle compressed to 8 months, and with the outstanding underlying optimization capabilities in higher frame rate, better temperature control and lower power consumption to achieve a perfect balance, in a number of optimized overturned Snapdragon 888 flagship machine, Magic 3 has become one of the best tuning series of products, can be described as "how to train your dragon".
The Honor 50 and Magic 3 series have been successful in the market, and in the third quarter of 2021, according to Canalys data, Honor mobile phone shipments were more than 14 million units, returning to the top three in China's market share.
The winning code of glory lies in the adherence to technological innovation and people-oriented business ideas.
Zhao Ming once said, "Honor will always adhere to the two-wheel drive concept of 'listening to the voice of users' and 'leading scientific and technological innovation' to create the ultimate product and lead the industry change." ”
Brief summary, that is, user thinking and technological innovation, on the one hand, refers to continuous understanding of consumer trends, insight into consumer needs and pain points, and use this as a starting point for innovation; on the other hand, it pays attention to technology to lead demand, and continues to guide the industry forward with cutting-edge and forward-looking technology.
Based on this, Honor has been able to better understand, grasp and lead the actual needs of consumers, and continue to transform the scientific and technological power into the product power that the market really needs.
Obviously, Honor's entry into the folding screen market is the specific practice of technology and concept. In the industry where the pain points of folding screen mobile phones are difficult to solve, Glory dares to invest money and energy in a large amount of money, starting from market demand, to bring high-quality products to consumers.
"One in place" is the most perceptive insight into market demand, consumers do not need to taste the electronic toys, but to truly meet the main model of daily use.
The manufacturers who chase folding screen mobile phones have made great progress in product completion, pain points, and software and hardware quality, including the glory Magic V, and new models such as Honor Magic V have more and more potential to become mainstream models, so that the public can see the hope of folding screen mobile phones "flying into the homes of ordinary people".
This is of extraordinary significance for improving the penetration rate of folding screen mobile phones and accelerating the innovation and innovation of the mobile phone industry.
epilogue
Today, when the mobile phone industry has rolled up new heights and the product direction is becoming more and more homogeneous, the emergence of folding screen mobile phones proves that innovation is endless.
As a symbol of the highest technical level of the mobile phone industry, the folding screen is not only a banner for mobile phone manufacturers to enter the high-end, but also an opportunity for the Android camp to counterattack Apple. Honor came with a more practical Magic V, which undoubtedly pushed the folding screen comprehensive experience to a higher place.
With the advancement of technology, folding screen mobile phone is no longer an unattainable future mobile phone, to solve the pain points, with a comprehensive comprehensive quality, glory Magic V or closer to the main machine of the folding screen flagship, but also to draw out the folding screen penetration rate of the rising curve of the excellent help.