Samsung folding screen phone
Pixels are getting taller, screens are getting bigger, features are getting bigger... It has become a trend in the development of smart phones, and at the same time, the folding screen market has quietly done "subtraction". From the perspective of size, the vertically folded "small folding" mobile phone screen (that is, the vertical folding screen mobile phone) ushered in an outbreak; In terms of thickness, the phone is getting slimmer; From the point of view of materials, the hinge structure has become more concise and light; Judging by the price, it has become more and more close to the people.
The "small fold" is on the eve of the outbreak
Under the current consumer trend of rejecting the "half-pound machine", small and lightweight small folding screen mobile phones are becoming popular. This year's new products released by major manufacturers, including Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 series, OPPO Find N2 Flip, vivo X Flip, Huawei P50 Pocket/Pocket S, and Lenovo moto razr 40 series, without exception, take the route of small folding screens, focusing on lightweight experience.
Hou Lin, senior analyst of GfK China Science and Technology Division, pointed out to the "China Electronics News" reporter that from the perspective of product lightweight design, the "small folding" mobile phone is only half the size of an ordinary mobile phone after folding, and it will not cause a pocket "falling feeling" due to size, weight and other factors, nor does it have the inconvenience caused by the inability to operate with one hand.
"The mobile phone screen can be around 6.6 inches, the larger it is, the more inconvenient it is to operate and carry." "I chose the small fold naturally because it has a small and new appearance with a large enough screen, and the price is more attractive." ...... This is the feedback that journalists get when interviewing consumers.
Jingdong 618 folding screen mobile phone best-selling list
During the Jingdong 618 period, among the top 5 best-selling items of folding screen mobile phones, three were small folding screen mobile phones.
At present, most mobile phone brands have launched "small folding" models, and among the head manufacturers that currently have folding screen models, Xiaomi is the only manufacturer that does not have "small folding" products. Recently, it was reported that the new Xiaomi Flip series folding screen has been approved, using a vertical inward folding design. In addition, OnePlus, Honor and Meizu are also very likely to launch more small folding screen phones. For example, the relevant revelations of the Honor folding screen mobile phone show that the brand's small folding screen may be named the Honor 90 Pocket.
Lenovo, which has just launched a new small folding screen, is very optimistic about the development of this type of product. Chen Jin, general manager of Lenovo's mobile phone business department in China, said that after a period of development, the small folding screen technology is more mature, the consumption threshold is reduced, and the demand for user scenarios is also increasing.
According to iResearch's "2023 China Folding Screen Mobile Phone Market Insight Report" data, in 2022, the annual growth rate of vertical folding screen mobile phones has reached 125.6%.
"We think that small folding screen mobile phones have reached the eve of a rapid outbreak." Chen Jin said that the popularity of small folding screens will become a trend, and it is also one of the vanes for the development of the folding screen mobile phone market.
Slimming and losing weight is more popular
The reporter learned in the interview that the "large folding" mobile phone (that is, the horizontal folding screen mobile phone) in the case of the screen folding, the body size is often thicker than the straight plate model, but in terms of portability, it has regressed. Therefore, without sacrificing size, manufacturers began to think more about how to make products "lighter".
In 2022, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 released by Samsung weighs only 263 grams; The thickness of the folded mobile phone of Xiaomi MIX FOLD 2 folding screen mobile phone is only 11.4mm, the whole machine weighs 262g, and the thinnest single-sided thickness is 5.4mm, which is almost the same as the Type-C interface; Huawei's Mate Xs 2, released earlier, is only about 4.5 mm at its thinnest point after unfolding, which is close to the level of ordinary straight mobile phones.
Zhou Hua, chief analyst of CINNO Research, told the "China Electronics News" reporter that in terms of lightweight folding screen mobile phones, on the one hand, it is necessary to streamline the hinge structure, and on the other hand, it is necessary to use advanced materials.
This also means that folding screen mobile phones can only be "slimmed down and weight reduced" to the greatest extent by making the hinge thinner and simpler in structure. Moreover, simpler structures and fewer components can also improve the reliability of folding screen mobile phone products.
Zhang Chenhao, vice president of Chengdu Tuomi Group and president of Tuomi Research Institute, a manufacturing enterprise focusing on hinge design, pointed out that the simplicity of design can achieve all functions with a minimum number of parts, thereby driving the lightweight of the hinge, and the hinge should occupy as little space as possible in the whole machine. When the inner fold R value is less than 1.5 and the outer fold R value is less than 3.8, the thickness of the hinge will be less than 4mm, the width is less than 20mm, and the thickness of the whole machine can be compressed to less than 10mm, which will have a huge impact on the straight mobile phone market. In addition, Zhang Chenhao said that in order to give up the maximum space for the appearance design of the whole machine, the hinge also needs to be frameless.
Materials are also the key to completing the lightweight transformation.
According to Zhang Chenhao, in order to continue to reduce the weight of the hinge, Tuomi is developing the combination of "MIM + titanium alloy" under the existing combination of "MIM (metal injection molding) + liquid metal + carbon fiber", and will move towards "MIM + imported high-strength carbon fiber" in the future. Under the premise that the product has completed more than 200,000 life tests, its weight can be reduced by 3.57g and 8g, respectively.
OPPO product manager Zhou Yibao said in an interview that in order to reduce weight, the OPPO team found the application of space-grade MIM ultra-tough alloy and "black gold" multi-layer carbon fiber material as the support skeleton of the screen, which can reduce the weight of the mobile phone to 233g, far lower than the average weight of 300g of the general folding screen mobile phone.
Huawei Mate X3 also uses innovative ultra-light self-developed materials - ultra-light diamond aluminum and carbon fiber bamboo book, achieving breakthrough weight reduction, the whole machine weight is only 239g, making folding screen mobile phones lighter and thinner than straight plate machines for the first time.
The price drop wins more expectations
For a long time, the price of folding screen mobile phones is basically around 10,000 yuan. This means that only some consumers who are not price sensitive will choose, so the market penetration rate has not been high.
Previously, Zhao Jun, senior vice president of TCL Technology and CEO of TCL Huaxing, pointed out in an interview that the price of folding screen mobile phones must fall below 5,000 yuan to be popularized. Today, the "5,000 yuan" line has been broken, triggering a new round of expectations for folding screen mobile phones.
The price of different brands of folding screen mobile phones
At present, among the best-selling models of folding screen mobile phones, the price of small folding mobile phones of brands such as Samsung, vivo, OPPO and other brands has dropped to 5500 yuan or 6000 yuan; The price of some Huawei small folding mobile phones has dropped to 5,000 yuan; Lenovo's latest release of Moto Razr 40 Ultra and Moto Razr 40 two small folding new products in the price further down, of which the Moto RazR 40 standard version of the starting price is only 3999 yuan.
Although the price of "big fold" mobile phones is not as affordable as the price of "small folding", the overall pricing has also decreased. The reporter inquired about the official flagship stores of various mobile phone brands and found that Huawei, Honor, OPPO, Xiaomi and other brands of many models are priced within 8,000 yuan.
"The price dip is an opportunity point." Chen Jun, deputy general manager and chief analyst of Qunzhi Consulting, said that this means that the popularity of folding mobile phones is accelerating.
Hou Lin said that the price of four or five thousand yuan for small folding screen mobile phones is not much different from the straight-screen flagship models of various mobile phone brands, which may stimulate some consumers to choose to buy folding screen mobile phones. Especially for vertical small folding, the previous price is relatively close to the people, and it is more likely to attract purchases after the price reduction.
This year's "June 18", the sales results of major platforms also confirm this. Jingdong data shows that during the "6·18" period, the transaction volume of folding screen mobile phones increased by more than three times year-on-year. Suning.com data shows that from May 23 ~ June 13, the sales of folding screen mobile phones increased by 157% year-on-year, leading the smartphone market.
TrendForce Consulting estimates that in 2023, shipments of folding screen mobile phones will reach 20 million units, compared with 12.8 million units in 2022, an annual growth rate of 55%.
A small hinge that hides the success or failure password of the folding screen mobile phone
Why is Samsung, which dominates the global folding screen mobile phone market, "turned over" in the Chinese market?
Author丨Gu Yue Editor丨Qiu Jiang Yongmei Editor丨Maria Executive Producer丨Lian Xiaodong