The folded smartphones tend to evolve from a niche into a larger market this year, because all the main Chinese telephone vendors marched to this sector to popularize relevant technology and applications, experts said.
Comments came after Vivo launched his first folded smartphone – X folding-earlier this week, which marked the trend where the brand of China’s main smartphone bet on folding devices as the main growth driver in the midst of growth competition.
Fu Liang, an independent analyst who has attended the telecommunications sector for more than a decade, said that since the end of last year, Chinese telephone companies have launched a series of folding devices which are the main way for them to expand their presence in the high-end telephone segment.
“Because folded display technology continues to be an adult, production costs fall, which makes folding phones more affordable,” said Fu.
Vivo X Fold, for example, is now valued from 8,999 yuan ($ 1.414), and a large 8.03 inch folding screen feature on the inside for the use of a tablet style and a more conventional phone size – in this case, 6.53 inches-outside.
Vivo said the hinges allowed cellphones to fold flat or opened open at an angle between 60 and 120 degrees, and the cellphone screen must last 300,000 folds, which marked a large increase over 200,000 folds claimed to be the latest generation folded by the telephone.
The new telephone, the results of four years of research and development, came as Vivo secured the top position as the largest smartphone brand in China last year with a market share of 22 percent, according to the data of the research company.
The entry of Vivo to this sector also increases competition. The International Data Corporation Market Research Company said in its latest report that sending folding phones throughout the world, including a flip and folding model, reached a total of 7.1 million units in 2021, an increase of 264.3 percent from 1.9 million units sent by 2020 .
The IDC Folding Phone Delivery Project will reach 27.6 million units in 2025 with an annual growth rate of compounds of 69.9 percent from 2020 to 2025, representing the main opportunity for vendors.
“From a consumer point of view, the telephone that is folded represents the most innovative visual change to occur on the smartphone, and therefore, it is a segment that cannot be ignored by vendors. The commercial segment has also seen folding phones marketed as a substitute for both phones and tablets,” IDC said.
“The success of recent folding devices from Samsung has provided new life to the category when competitors rush into the market,” said Anthony Scarsella, research manager with a quarterly cellphone tracker around the world IDC worldwide. “Samsung has proven that there is consumer demand for a folding phone once they reach the right price and display more stable buildings.”