Why do Huawei and Samsung Both Want to First Market with a Foldable Smartphone of its Own?

By Carrie Tsai,  Last Updated: August 28, 2018

A screen like a book, easy to open and fold, a second to spread, can make a smartphone into a tablet, this foldable display of electronic devices often appear in science fiction movies, but in In the real world, the distance of the foldable phone is getting closer and closer.

Earlier, it was said that Huawei wanted to grab the start. The news came from the report of Korean media ETNews. Earlier, the Korean media said that Huawei's upcoming flexible phone, flexible screen is provided by LG, and will be released in November this year.

At the moment, Samsung has revealed its willingness to grab the start. DJ Koh, president of Samsung Electronics' mobile communication division, publicly stated in an interview with the Korean media at the Galaxy Note 9 conference: Samsung is developing a Samsung folding phone that consumers like most, and hints that "will not let all walks of life wait too long, because Samsung want to be looted the title of the world's first folding smartphone.

The problem with foldable phones is that the internal components of the smartphone, such as the circuit board and the battery, need to adapt to the requirements of the foldable screen and have a certain degree of flexibility. It is necessary to make a flexible circuit board that can be applied to smart phones and tablet devices. Internal components need to withstand a large number of bending and non-bending cycles when operating the equipment to avoid damage or some unpredictable accidents during folding.

According to the foldable patent that Samsung has flowed out earlier, the answer to the folding of the phone is also the hinge in the middle of the mobile phone. It is because of this hinge that the mobile phone can be folded as the center, but after the mobile phone is folded, the middle will also a gap appeared. This places demands on the rigidity of the hinge.

Withal, in addition to the production of flexible screens, the placement and design of the internal space components of phones need to be coordinated throughout the entire industrial chain. The difficulty of mass production of mobile phones can be imagined.

Q&A 1:  Why does Samsung Wants to Beat Huawei to Market with a Foldable Smartphone of its Own

First of all, if the marketability of the fold smartphone is large enough, it is obvious that other smartphone manufacturers will not be indifferent. The advance layout can win a long time window and fully establish the rule-leading and technological leading position in the foldable mobile phone. And through the product form innovation to meet the real needs of consumers.

Secondly, in the Android camp, Huawei has surpassed Apple in market share and its next target is Samsung. For Samsung, it needs to maintain its position as the NO.1 market share. The form of fold smartphone is not only attracting media users. Look, or from its technological innovation itself, it has the potential to detonate the market.

Thirdly, from the current point of view, the improvement of screen display technology has been changing the way that humans accept information. The screen changes brought by folding technology have obviously subverted the traditional mobile phone industry design concept, and it is likely to change consumers' habit of using a smartphone.

Therefore, most manufacturers of foldable screen phones have revealed follow-up signals. No matter Apple, Samsung or Huawei have disclosed relevant patents. However, Samsung’s willingness to break the deadlock in current profits is even more pressing.

Q&A 2: Why is Apple not Rushing to Release the First Foldable Phone?

If the folding cell phone becomes a brand new growth branch of smartphone development in the future, it will be the last thing Apple wants to see.

Although from the current disclosure, Apple has applied for a patent for a foldable phone screen long ago. As early as 2016, the US Patent and Trademark Office approved a new patent from Apple, showing that Apple has won a patented technology for flexible or foldable mobile phones using carbon nanotubes.

However, from the current dynamics, Apple's desire to embrace the folding smart phone market is relatively low. Because change means a new risk to Apple. Only when it remains the same, can it harvest the most lucrative profits in the current market structure.

Q&A 3: Business Strategy Behind the Foldable Phone

From another perspective, foldable phones itself is a gamble, gambling is a kind of prejudging the future trend and seeing whether the user's needs are real.

The reason why Samsung Huawei wants to start at this time, one side as mentioned before, as the two leading manufacturers of the Android camp, have the ambition to compete for the market share in the future, and the fold phone is a good direction of breaking.

Another goal of competing for the first foldable handset may be a strategy to create a fog. The real motivation is to confuse the opponent and let the competitors see if their true intentions are full bets or bluffs.