In October 2018, Royole Technology released the FlexPai Flexpai, which opened the precedent of folding screen smartphones.
In February of the following year, Samsung released its first folding screen smartphone Galaxy Z Fold, marking the real beginning of the folding screen smartphone from conceptual to practical, mass production, and 2019 is also recognized as the first year of folding screen smartphones.
The Z Fold series has iterated many times to this day
In the following three years, domestic manufacturers have also entered the game and begun to exert efforts in the field of mobile phone folding. As of today, the product lines of mainstream manufacturers basically cover the folding screen.
What is the magic of folding screens, and why can it become a highland that manufacturers must fight for by default? In this issue, let's talk about this topic.
#1 Why can the mobile folding field be "reborn"?
In the 90s of last century, the first flip phone was born - Motorola StarTac, strictly speaking, it is the originator of folding mobile phones, and then like Nokia, well-known manufacturers also released flip phones, I believe that there must be one in your youth.
StarTac
Until the arrival of apples, the original balance was broken. Other brands and markets look back and find that perhaps straight boards and large screens are the answer, so manufacturers are back on this track to compete, whether it is an increasingly large screen ratio, or a camera that is more and more clear, or a variety of full screens, curved screens, waterfall screens... All kinds of top technologies emerge in an endless stream, in short, in the past ten years, a hundred flowers have blossomed, and they are not prosperous.
However, the bottleneck also came. We can see that in the past two years, there have been fewer and fewer dazzling designs at the new product launch of the straight-panel mobile phone, most of which are based on the hardware stacking of the previous generation of products, software optimization, and some subtle experience improvements.
This is in the eyes of users who are more and more picky and the replacement cycle is constantly lengthening, which produces fatigue.
How to innovate has become a problem in front of all manufacturers, and the folding screen allows manufacturers and users to see a glimmer of new mobile phone form. Imagine, will the future technology develop to the point where mobile phones are as thin as a piece of paper and can be folded and folded?
However, there are also views that the folding screen is only a transitional product. It doesn't matter, whether it is a transitional product or a new form of product, it will inevitably appear. Since it has appeared, we have a rational thinking to meet it and analyze it, because today's mobile phone market needs innovation too much.
#2 Benefits of Folding Screen Smartphones
First of all, it satisfies the user's desire for a large screen. Let's recall, is the screen size of the phone gradually rising from the gold 3.5 inches of the year to 6.8 inches today, or even larger?
The S22 Ultra screen is up to 6.8 inches long
One of the important reasons is that users are bigger and cooler, and following market feedback is a prerequisite for brand-driven production.
However, no matter how big the screen is, it should not exceed the TV, handheld, and tablet, otherwise it is not easy to store and carry, then fold the screen up, which is such an effective solution nowadays.
In addition, because of the free hover of the hinge design, the user's use scenarios have also become richer, from 2D to 3D, similar to PCs.
For manufacturers, the high technical barriers of folding screens can redefine the industry pattern, and the survival of the fittest will remain unchanged.
At present, in the global world, Samsung's independently developed flexible OLED panels have maintained a leading position in terms of technology and market share, and the manufacturers who have entered the market later have also made huge investments. As a single discussion of hinge design as the core, there are several different solutions on the market.
The remaining manufacturers who cannot touch the relevant technical barriers may face the risk of reshuffling.
The healthy competition of manufacturers in technology is beneficial to users. Or take the hinge design as an example, the number of folding times under different schemes is different, the manufacturer continues to optimize, the good is the final folding screen in your hand, its service life increased.
#3 Problems faced by folding screens
The hardware itself
The 8-inch screen is folded up, coupled with the arrogant hinge, the weight is far beyond the conventional straight board mobile phone, the thickness is equally touching, the overall bulky, is the problem that cannot be bypassed in front of the eyes.
And with the current level of technology, creases can not be completely eliminated, which also dissuaded a large part of the user.
Software ecology
To put it simply, it is the application adaptation, and even the original straight-board mobile phone has faced the problem that the application cannot be adapted, let alone the folding form.
Nowadays, the folding screen mobile phone on the market is probably divided into three specifications: the small cup Samsung Flip folded up and down, the middle cup OPPO Find N folded left and right, the large cup Samsung Fold folded left and right, an application to cover all kinds of models, then it must be more adapted than before, the developer is not easy, a little careless, the bad experience can not retain the user.
High cost
Although the folding screen process has been iterated many times and the supply chain has gradually matured, the cost of screens and hinges is there, and it is the consumers who finally come to pay.
The good news is that, for example, the public price of Flip 3 is set at seven or eight thousand, and the official flip machine is lower under the premise of enjoying the quality of the new machine and a one-year warranty, and as for other manufacturers, the price of its folding screen has also been reduced.
Therefore, the folding screen is no longer as out of reach as it was two or three years ago.
The cost of this piece of after-sales cannot be controlled for the time being, because the place where there is a problem is often on the screen and hinge, and the maintenance cost is not cheap.
#4 Summary
After such analysis, folding screen smartphones seem to have a long way to go.
Despite the immaturity, the industry forecast is still relatively optimistic, according to some industry agencies statistics and analysis, the full year of 2021 folding screen smartphone shipments of about 7 million units, 2022 is expected to reach more than 14 million.
I just don't know, this 14 million miles, will there be your part, huh.
Maybe at this moment you have begun to set a lot of ifs in your mind: if the hinge technology is more mature, the service life is longer, if it is cheaper, if it is lighter...
Soul Torture: Now that you are using a straight phone, will you choose a folding screen in the next one?