Huawei wants to beat Samsung to market with a foldable smartphone of its own One of the hotly anticipated handsets of 2019 is Samsungâs fi...
One of the hotly anticipated handsets of 2019 is Samsungâs first foldable handset. We used to call it the Galaxy X until earlier this week, when we learned that Galaxy X might be Samsungâs first gaming phone, which doesnât fold. Then we learned Galaxy F might be the real name of the handset.
Whatever it is, the Samsung foldable is expected to launch in early 2019. But when it finally arrives, after more than two years of speculation and rumors, the Galaxy foldable phone might not be the first phone of its kind in the world. Huawei seems very eager to beat Samsung to market.
Don't Miss: The hot new smartphone Trump tried to ban dropped to its lowest price ever on AmazonAs it is right now, we donât have real foldable handsets. We do have ZTE Axon M-like devices (below) that are practically two smartphone displays joined by a hinge. That âs not what we expect from this new form factor, which means weâre still waiting for someone to make the first foldable smartphone in the world.
Image Source: ZTE
This isnât the first time weâve heard that Huawei is working on a foldable smartphone of its own â" and, to be clear, everyone else is also working on something. But Huawei wants to beat Samsung to market, a new report from Nikkei Asian Review reveals.
Huawei is going to partner with local display supplier BOE for the flexible OLED screen that would go inside this unnamed Huawei foldable handset.
The first batch would be limited, but Huawei and BOE want just to beat Samsung to market. âHuaweiâs planned volume could be limited to some 20,000 to 30,000 units, or even less, for a small group of first-wave adopters,â a source said. âThe effort is mainly to d emonstrate its technological capability and to attract the industryâs attention and media coverage.â
The product will hit the market by âvery early 2019,â according to Yuanta Investment Consulting analyst Jeff Pu.
âThe Chinese company wants to be the first in the industry even if the display technology from its panel supplier might not be that ready like Samsung,â he said.
The launch date depends on the development of the technology and the durability of the foldable panels, the report notes.
While Huawei wants to attract the attention of smartphone buyers, BOE is going after bigger fish. The company has been rumored for years to eye Appleâs iPhone supply business. BOE has been heavily investing in OLED display manufacturing plants, in the hopes that it will attract Appleâs attention.
For Huawei, itâs only logical to partner with a local company thatâs heavily subsidized by the government. Itâs not like Samsung will provide fo ldable screens to any rival, especially Huawei before its foldable phone hits the market.
The report doesnât mention price details for the unnamed foldable Huawei phone, but a WitsView analyst explains profitability isnât a major concern for this project. âProfitability for this project is not the first priority for the two Chinese companies,â Eric Chiou said.
Itâs unclear at this time what kind of specs Huaweiâs foldable phone will have to offer, but weâre probably looking at top of the line hardware.
Samsungâs Galaxy foldable phone, also supposed to be a limited run in the first year, is rumored to cost $1,500 to $2,000 because of the extra costs that went into creating this sophisticated handset.
Huawei is currently the worldâs third-largest handset maker behind Apple, but the company plans to overtake the iPhone maker soon. Next order of business would be displacing Samsung, which has been the worldâs largest handset maker for a fe w years now.
As for BOE, check out the video below to see its foldable smartphone concepts in action:
Source: Google News US Technology | Netizen 24 United States