【Mobile Phone China】With more and more mobile phone manufacturers entering the market, folding screen models have become the next outlet in the global smartphone market. iResearch data shows that in 2022, China's folding screen mobile phone shipments increased by 154% year-on-year. However, due to weight, creases and price issues, the vast majority of consumers do not consider folding screen mobile phones too much when buying a new machine.
Folding screen phone
But not long ago, Huawei's new folding screen flagship Mate X3 was officially released, light to 239g, and the thickness of the folding body is only 11.08mm. For the first time, the large-screen folding mobile phone is lighter than the straight mobile phone, and the thickness of the body is lighter than the straight plate machine has attracted the attention of many netizens, and has also triggered a discussion among netizens: The folding screen mobile phone can now bring the same feel as the straight board machine? Will folding screen phones replace straight board machines?
Folding screen mobile phones are a development trend
In the long run: Yes.
The tide of history is rushing forward, we cannot stop the pace of the times, and people's pursuit of science and technology is endless. When the world's first smartphone appeared in 1993, we thought it was just an ordinary day in ordinary life. As a result, after the advent of smart phones, they quickly replaced the status of functional machines in our lives.
Motorola A6188
From 2013 to 2015, China's smart phone replacement peak, the development of the mobile phone industry has also entered a climax, major mobile phone manufacturers continue to make efforts, a variety of smart phones have been listed. At that time, as long as the mobile phone screen was larger, the pixels were higher, the battery life was longer, and the charging was faster... will become a selling point and sell well in the market. Every move of smartphone design and technology iteration can stir the nerves of consumers and create a prosperous situation in the mobile phone industry.
However, with the gradual maturity of the market, the gradual improvement of mobile phone functions, and the development of straight plate machines close to the extreme, it is now difficult for mobile phone manufacturers to make innovations that make users dazzle on straight boards. So everyone set their sights on folding screen mobile phones.
Folding screen phone
After 2018, affected by market saturation, extended user replacement cycle and insufficient innovation of straight plates, the smartphone market fell into a downturn, and shipments continued to decline. However, in sharp contrast, the folding screen mobile phone market has continued to grow high against the trend.
According to iResearch's market data, folding screen mobile phones will be shipped about 3.6 million units in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 154.4%, and shipments are expected to exceed 5.5 million units in 2023.
Behind the contrarian growth of folding screen mobile phones, it reflects the consumer psychological process of consumers from wait-and-see to early taste experience, and then to folding screen products as the main machine. The emergence of folding screen mobile phones makes up for the pain points that cannot be solved by straight plate machines. As the carrier of the first popular application of foldable flexible screens, folding screen mobile phones solve the contradiction between the portable experience of straight plate machines and the size of large screens. Especially after the horizontal folding model is unfolded, the immersive large screen, the high-definition picture gives users a strong visual impact, which can better meet the needs of users in multiple scenarios such as brushing dramas, games, and light office, and constantly optimize the user experience.
According to iResearch's survey data, 57.2% of respondents said that the reason why they chose a cross-folding screen mobile phone is that the large screen looks and feel more comfortable; Among users who purchased horizontal folding screen mobile phones, more than 80% of respondents used the unfolded large screen longer than the folded state.
More and more users choose folding screen mobile phones
The first to mass-produce folding screen mobile phones were mobile phone manufacturers such as Samsung and Huawei, which received a lot of attention after their release. However, due to the high price, the volume of the folding screen is heavier, the crease is more obvious, the system is not very suitable and other problems, folding screen mobile phones have not become the mainstream.
But as more and more mobile phone manufacturers join, these slots of folding screens are being solved one by one. In terms of price, Huawei's first folding screen mobile phone, Huawei Mate X 5G, was priced at 16,999 yuan when it was first released, and the latest folding screen flagship Mate X3 was priced from 12,999 yuan; Samsung's first folding screen mobile phone Galaxy Fold costs 15999 yuan, and the latest folding screen mobile phone Z Fold4 costs from 12999 yuan. In addition, due to the addition of Xiaomi, OPPO, Honor and vivo, the starting price of horizontal folding screen mobile phones has been pulled below 10,000 yuan. The debut of OPPO Find N in 2021 has pulled the horizontal folding screen to the 7K price segment in one fell swoop. At the same time, the price of the vertical folding screen flagship has been pulled to the 5K price segment, which is not much more expensive than an ordinary straight flagship.
Huawei Mate X
In terms of weight, Huawei Mate X3 has achieved breakthrough weight reduction in the application of ultra-light diamond aluminum and carbon fiber bamboo book, and for the first time to make folding screen mobile phones lighter than straight plate machines, Huawei has carried out in-depth development and customization with the head APP, and adapted exclusively according to different pendant scenarios, so that mobile phones have a unique and exclusive large-screen experience in various application scenarios.
Huawei Mate X3
According to a consumer research survey conducted by Counterpoint Research on the American public, 28% of current smartphone users in the United States are likely to choose a foldable smartphone when they next change. Among them, 46% of respondents most like to buy Samsung's foldable products, followed by Apple (39%) and Motorola (6%).
Respondents from higher income brackets are more likely to buy foldable phones, while respondents with a monthly income of US$10,000 (about 70,000 yuan) and above are most likely (41%) to choose foldable phones as their first glare when they change their next phone
Foldable phone preferences for US users
In 2022, although foldable products only account for 1.1% of global smartphone shipments, it occupies an important position in the ultra-high-end market, accounting for about 7% of smartphone shipments above US$800 (about 5,500 yuan). According to Counterpoint Research's global foldable smartphone market forecast, the global foldable smartphone market is expected to reach 22.7 million units in Q3 2022.
It is difficult to become mainstream in the short term
Although folding screen mobile phones will gradually become the mainstream is a trend, but in the short term, folding screen mobile phones will not replace folding screen mobile phones so quickly, mainly because of the price and use experience.
OPPO Find N
Although the price of folding screen mobile phones has gradually declined in recent years and is becoming more and more close to the people, it is still expensive for most consumers. From the perspective of the global single-price smartphone shipment market share in Q4 2021, mobile phone shipments priced below $299 (about 2,000 yuan) accounted for about 70% of global smartphone shipments. In other words, seventy percent of the world's mobile phone consumers use mobile phones under 2,000 yuan. At present, the cheapest folding screen mobile phone is a vertical folding screen mobile phone, most of which are priced at more than 5,000 yuan.
Therefore, unless mobile phone manufacturers can develop cheaper folding screen mobile phones, folding screen mobile phones will not become mainstream in a short period of time.
Global smartphone shipment market share by price point in Q4 2021
Compared with the straight flagship priced at more than 5,000 yuan, the experience of folding screen mobile phones is not comparable. Now mobile phone manufacturers are rolling up badly, not only the price of the flagship machine has rolled down, but also the configuration is very balanced. If you have a budget of 5,000-6,000 yuan, the basic flagship on the market can be said to be arbitrary. But the folding screen mobile phone that can be bought on this budget is not as good as the straight mobile phone at the price. For most consumers, it is believed that instead of spending five or six thousand to buy a sub-flagship folding machine, it is better to buy a flagship straight plate machine.
Moreover, although the innovative folding form of folding screen mobile phones can bring a lot of interesting interactions, the technology of always folding screen mobile phones is not as mature as straight plate machines. Many people worry about creases as well as gaming experience. Especially for users who like to play games, it is estimated that most people prefer to play games with straight boards.
Redmi Note 12 Turbo
Compared with horizontal folding screen mobile phones, the straight board machine is lighter and thinner to play games, and can be held with one hand; As far as vertical folding screen mobile phones are concerned, the straight plate machine has no creases and can bring a more immersive experience.
Therefore, before making up for these "shortcomings" and the price has not been beaten, folding screen mobile phones are destined to be only the choice of a few people, and will not become the main form in a short period of time. In the coming years, we will still see foldable products coexist with straight plate machine designs.
Write at the end
No one can stop the progress of technology, and it turns out that the development of straight board mobile phones has ushered in a bottleneck. We've seen different form factor experiments in the past (i.e. LGWing and LG G8X dual screens), but the foldable device has been shown to be the most successful yet. In the future, folding screen mobile phones will definitely become more and more popular, even if they cannot completely replace straight mobile phones, I believe they will become mainstream mobile phone forms.