Vivo folding screen phone is really coming.
A few days ago, the well-known digital blogger "Digital Chat Station" exposed vivo's first folding screen mobile phone sketch on Weibo, from the exposure picture, the product is called vivo X Fold, in the configuration is all TOP level. According to the interface reporter, the folding screen mobile phone will have a great technological breakthrough in the core component of the hinge, and the product performance will be fully benchmarked against Huawei and Samsung, and will be officially unveiled in April.
In fact, for the folding screen market, vivo can be described as premeditated for a long time.
As early as February 2020, vivo applied for a design patent with WIPO (World Intellectual Property Office) entitled "Display Panels and Mobile Terminals". Since then, rumors about the vivo folding screen will appear every few months, such as vivo disclosing the "folding electronic device" patent, applying for the "NEX FOLD", "NEX SLIDE", "NEX ROLL" trademark, etc., but in the end these rumors are gone.
The close voice of well-known bloggers, authoritative media and supply chain companies all hinted that vivo launched a folding screen mobile phone in April this year, which is a sure thing.
In terms of screen form innovation, vivo has become a leader many times
Vivo's entry is expected, but it is definitely not an early set. In the circle of folding screen mobile phones, in addition to the traditional players Samsung and Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, and Honor have also released their own folding screen mobile phones. As far as the domestic head camp is concerned, the vivo folding screen mobile phone can be described as somewhat late.
However, can this show that vivo's technology in the field of folding screens is not good? Apparently not.
In the most fiercely competitive Chinese smartphone market, vivo can seize the largest market share, all the way to overturn ZTE Lenovo Samsung, surpass Huawei Apple Xiaomi, its strength in technology research and development, supply chain control and other aspects, is beyond doubt. Especially in the form innovation of mobile phone screens, vivo has almost always been at the forefront of the industry.
From the perspective of previous generation products, vivo NEX and Apple-led "liu hai screen" program in the confrontation between a battle to become famous, with innovative lifting camera, screen fingerprint, full screen sound and other technologies, brought the front without bangs, no openings, ultra-narrow border "zero boundary full screen" design, not only broke through the technical barriers that hindered the integrity of the full screen at that time, but also opened up the exploration of a new direction of the full screen.
Since then, Vivo has released a unique NEX dual-screen version of the mobile phone, one positive and one negative two large-size screens to bring shocking visual effects at the same time, the front and rear dual screens can achieve multi-task operation, greatly improving the user experience and efficiency.
Entering the 5G era, NEX 3 5G for the first time launched a new boundless waterfall screen design, the machine completely abandons the three mainstream design solutions of bezels, digging holes and physical buttons, with a screen ratio of 99.6% and then a new high, providing a more impactful sensory experience for games, videos and other entertainment content, and more importantly, the feel and touch performance are also excellent.
From the zero-boundary full screen to the double-sided screen, and then to the boundless waterfall screen, vivo, which has become a technology leader for many times, leads the development of the mobile phone industry with performance beyond the times. I thought that the new prelude to the folding screen era would be opened by vivo again, why did it become a latecomer this time?
When technology achieves a major breakthrough, vivo will break through the ground
In October 2018, Royole Technology released the world's first foldable flexible screen mobile phone FlexPai. But what really ignited the folding screen war was Samsung and Huawei.
During the MWC conference in early 2019, Samsung and Huawei competed to release their first folding screen phones Galaxy Fold and Mate X, and folding screen phones began to truly enter the public eye. Since then, xiaomi, Nubia, TCL and other manufacturers have also shown their own folding screen solutions, for a while, the folding screen even overshadowed the 5G front, becoming the biggest hot topic in the digital field. In the third quarter of that year, the market also ushered in the first mass production of commercial folding screen mobile phones.
Although the forerunner has a preemptive aura, the product does not necessarily bring a good experience.
Samsung Galaxy Fold before the official release, has been to some of the consumers who booked the machine and media agencies distributed a trial machine for evaluation, from the evaluation results, the Galaxy Fold folding screen has many problems, including screen distortion, screen flickering and hinge bulge, etc., even if the furnace is rebuilt, and the release date is adjusted later, but the machine still has serious screen creases, gaps in the back ridge and other defects.
In addition to Samsung, also pushed into the focus of public opinion is Huawei, some technology early adopters spend high prices to buy Huawei Mate X mobile phone, the quality is not satisfactory, similar to the screen leakage, black screen and other news from time to time, and screen repair or replacement also require a lot of costs.
Although the subsequent development of the folding screen mobile phones of the two giants is not very smooth, this does not prevent other manufacturers from entering the track.
From the perspective of competition, new technologies mean black technology, gimmicks and selling points, think of "the world's first / first commercial folding screen mobile phone", no doubt can blow a wave, and the new product has just been launched, due to the high price and few competitors, you can also eat the most lucrative profits. Of course, Samsung and Huawei actively released folding screen mobile phones, and also effectively promoted the development of the folding screen market, which is worth affirming.
However, in vivo's view, "technology does not exist for the sake of showing technology, and the end of science and technology is to make people feel happy and reach beauty." "In the early stage of the development of folding screen mobile phones, due to the impact of yield, production capacity and high price, not only could not achieve mass production. In addition, due to the immature products, it will also affect the user's experience and reputation, resulting in the vast majority of consumers dare not start folding screen mobile phones.
Based on this insight, instead of rushing to follow the outlet to launch folding screen products, vivo is more inclined to calmly layout and precipitate technology first, and other software and hardware technologies such as hinges, screens, and ecological applications are mature enough, the equipment yield is on a new level, and when it can bring a qualitative leap to the user experience, it will launch its own folding screen products to the market.
Late vivo, can it be achieved to catch up later
After a long period of exploration and optimization by upstream and downstream manufacturers in the mobile phone industry chain, in 2022, the development of folding screen mobile phones has finally ushered in an accelerated inflection point. The Display Supply Chain Alliance (DSCC) predicts that folding screen mobile phone shipments are expected to reach 17.5 million units in 2022, an increase of 132% year-on-year. This means that folding screen mobile phones have begun to move from an extremely narrow market to a mass market.
In fact, since the fourth quarter of 2021, domestic mobile phone manufacturers have "eight immortals across the sea, each showing its ability", and all kinds of folding screen mobile phones are also "suddenly like a spring breeze overnight, thousands of trees and pear blossoms". And the emerging manufacturers on the folding screen track are mainly Samsung, Huawei, OPPO, Xiaomi and Glory, so can the "late" vivo achieve the late catch-up?
At present, vivo has at least three major advantages:
First, vivo folding screen mobile phones have higher maturity and user experience.
After years of research and development, vivo X Fold is bound to be more mature in technology and technology. According to relevant media reports, vivo folding screen mobile phone has achieved a major technological breakthrough in the core component of the hinge, because of the use of Apple supplier hinges, and the use of multiple aerospace materials, the machine in the number of folding, compared to competitors have a crushing level improvement. At the same time, the time difference of the next step also gives vivo the opportunity to optimize and integrate the production capacity, yield, adaptation and experience according to the experience and lessons of the predecessors, so as to achieve a late strike.
In addition, as vivo's first folding screen product, the positioning of vivo X Fold is definitely an ultra-high-end flagship, so many of Vivo's research and development achievements and highly recognizable ace assets, including ZEISS imaging system, anti-shake micro-gimbal, ultrasonic screen fingerprints, etc., are expected to be concentrated on vivo X Fold, which will bring users enough differentiation and industry-leading experience.
Second, vivo has a strong technical background and a perfect self-developed and self-produced system.
As the only mobile phone manufacturer with self-developed and self-produced capabilities, vivo has built a 10+7 R&D and manufacturing system in the world. Relying on its talent, technology and supply chain resources in 10 cities such as Shenzhen, Beijing, Taipei, and Tokyo, Vivo folding screen mobile phone can use the leading innovative technology of the same period.
In addition, folding screen mobile phones have always faced many "pain points" such as obvious screen creases, overall impact resistance is not good enough, short service life, etc., so they also pose extremely high challenges to quality. Vivo has complete control over the manufacture of its own products, from the supply chain, production line equipment, process to manufacturing process and management, vivo can personally protect every detail of manufacturing and production, compared to millet and other brands in production capacity, quality control and other important links have more advantages, can ensure that its folding screen mobile phone has the industry's first-class high quality.
Third, vivo has established a leading advantage in many mobile phone markets around the world.
Data from authoritative research companies such as Counterpoint shows that in 2021, Vivo will top the domestic smartphone market with a market share of 22%. At the same time, in overseas markets such as Indonesia, India, Thailand, and the Philippines, Vivo mobile phone shipments are among the best, and have won the love and support of about 400 million users worldwide. The huge market size has also laid a solid user base and brand confidence for vivo folding screen mobile phones.
brief summary:
Since the realization of mass production in 2019, the folding screen mobile phone market has developed for nearly 3 years, and in the days when vivo is "absent", the folding screen mobile phones on the market, whether in terms of experience or price, or have not met the replacement expectations of most users. Vivo brought the first folding screen mobile phone X Fold this time, which can be said to be one of the most anticipated products in the Chinese mobile phone market and users in 2022, because it can enrich user choices and promote the healthy development of the folding screen market.
The ancients planned and planned, paying attention to planning and then moving. In the face of the folding screen mobile phone track, vivo, which adopts a slow deployment strategy, what kind of surprises will it bring? Worth looking forward to.