China-Singapore Jingwei Client, February 23 (Chang Tao) On February 22, Huawei released a new generation of folding screen mobile phone Huawei Mate X2.

While making new breakthroughs in technology, the price also set a new high for Huawei's folding screen phones-starting at 17,999 yuan.

　　If Samsung released the Galaxy Fold on February 20, 2019, which attracted market attention, it has been two full years since the foldable screen mobile phone "made its debut".

Two years have passed, how mature is the folding screen phone?

When will the price come down?

In the face of the folding screen mobile phone market, mobile phone manufacturers such as Apple, vivo, Honor, and Xiaomi are gearing up. What changes will their entry bring to the industry?

Huawei's new folding screen mobile phone unveiled, Yu Chengdong said that stocks are adequate

　　According to Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei's consumer business, introduced at the press conference, Huawei Mate X2 has significantly improved both the screen and the hinge.

　　In terms of screens, Huawei Mate X2 pioneered a dual-wedge-shaped integrated design with a dual-screen design inside and outside. The outside is equipped with a 6.45-inch OLED screen, and the inside is equipped with an 8-inch foldable flexible OLED screen. Huawei claims this is the largest screen in the industry One of the folding screen mobile phones.

Huawei Mate X2 is the industry's first magnetron nano-optical film, which has an ultra-low screen reflectivity of less than 1.5%.

　　In terms of hinges, Huawei Mate X2 finally adopts the current industry's unique double-rotating water drop hinge. Through the multi-dimensional phase control linkage mechanism, a water drop-like screen space is formed at the bend, which not only achieves seamless folding, but also ensures unfolding. The flatness of the rear screen.

　　Huawei Mate X2 will officially go on sale at 10:8 on February 25, 2021. The 256GB version is priced at 17,999 yuan and the 512GB version is priced at 18,999 yuan.

　　In addition, Yu Chengdong also announced that starting from April 2021, Huawei's flagship mobile phones can be upgraded to HarmonyOS (Hongmeng System), and Huawei Mate X2 will be the first batch of upgrades.

　　Regarding the stock volume of Huawei Mate X2, Yu Chengdong said that "the stock is adequate and the production capacity has been improved every week and every month."

According to China-Singapore Jingwei reporters learned from the industry chain, the first batch of Huawei Mate X2 stocks is about 200,000 units.

Folding screen mobile phones have the conditions for popularization

　　According to the statistics of China-Singapore Jingwei reporters, since Rouyu released FlexPai in November 2018, there have been twelve folding screen mobile phones on the market.

　　In November 2018, Rouyu launched the world's first foldable flexible screen mobile phone FlexPai.

However, due to design, technology and other reasons, FlexPai's market performance has been sluggish and has not attracted market attention.

In addition, Rouyu also released a new generation of foldable mobile phone product FlexPai 2 5G on September 22, 2020.

　　Data map Rouyu folding screen phone in the new Jingwei Chang Tao

　　Up to now, Samsung has released five folding screen phones, namely the Samsung Galaxy Fold released on February 20, 2019, the Heart World W20 released in November 2019, the Galaxy Z Flip released on February 12, 2020, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 5G released on September 1, 2020, and W21 5G released in November 2020.

　　Data map Samsung folding screen mobile phone in the new Jingwei Chang Tao

　　Motorola currently released two folding screen mobile phones, namely the first folding screen mobile phone RAZR released in November 2019 and the second generation folding screen mobile phone RAZR 5G released on September 10, 2020.

　　Huawei currently released three folding screen mobile phones. In addition to the latest Huawei Mate X2, Huawei also released Huawei Mate X and Huawei Mate Xs on February 24, 2019 and February 24, 2020.

　　In fact, in the past two years, fragility, out of stock, and high prices have always been hot words around folding screen phones.

There is a view that it is difficult for folding mobile phones to "fly into the homes of ordinary people" in a short time.

　　Folding screen mobile phones can be accepted and popularized by the public, and price is one of the most important factors.

At present, folding screen mobile phones are absolutely high-end models in the product lines of various brands.

High-end also means expensive prices.

　　A reporter from Sino-Singapore Jingwei inquired about the official selling prices of various brands of folding screen mobile phones and found that most of them maintained their selling prices, except for individual products that had an immediate discount.

For example, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 5G is currently priced at 16,999 yuan, Samsung W21 5G is priced at 19,999 yuan, and Huawei Mate Xs 5G is priced at 16,999 yuan, both of which are on sale.

Among them, Huawei Mate Xs 5G has been on sale for one year.

　　The price of some folding screen mobile phones has dropped below 10,000 yuan through promotional activities.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip dropped from 11999 yuan to 7,699 yuan, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5G dropped from 12499 yuan to 9999 yuan, Motorola RAZR 5G also dropped from 12499 yuan to 9999 yuan.

However, on the second-hand trading platform, the prices of some folding screen mobile phones are further dropping.

The price of the brand new Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5G is around 5,000 yuan, and the official price of the new Rouyu FlexPai is around 3500 yuan.

　　Some analysts told the China-Singapore Jingwei reporter that the price of folding screen phones cannot be reduced to a price acceptable to most consumers in the short term. This is determined by multiple factors such as materials, manufacturers' pricing strategies, and after-sales service.

"Generally, we think that folding screen phones are two to three thousand yuan more expensive than ordinary phones with the same configuration, which is acceptable to users. However, it is still very difficult to reach this level at present," the analyst said.

　　Sun Yanbiao, Dean of the First Mobile Phone Industry Research Institute, believes that the folding screen will become a popular mobile phone in the future.

"After practice, the material of the hinge, the key component of the folding screen mobile phone, has been determined to be liquid metal. Liquid metal has good memory performance, flexibility, softness and toughness, which is the most suitable for demand. Another key component of the folding screen mobile phone- The screen, whether it is folded in or out, has been verified. Therefore, from the technical level, the folding screen mobile phone has the conditions for popularization." Sun Yanbiao told the Zhongxin Jingwei reporter, "From the perspective of market demand, the folding screen Mobile phones are more compact, and under the background of the current high homogeneity of mobile phone products, it has opened up a path of differentiation."

　　Market research organization Strategy Analytics is very optimistic about the prospects of foldable smartphones. It is estimated that in 2025, the shipment of foldable screen phones will reach 100 million units.

Folding screen iPhone is on the way?

　　Just like promoting the rapid popularization of 5G mobile phones, the popularization of folding screen mobile phones also requires many mobile phone manufacturers to join the game and "raise the flag."

In fact, many manufacturers are interested in folding screen phones.

　　As early as January 23, 2019, Lin Bin, the president of Xiaomi Group at the time, showed the Xiaomi dual-folding mobile phone engineering machine on his personal Weibo, and said that he would consider mass production in the future.

Only two years have passed, and Xiaomi's foldable screen phone still has not been released.

　　Recently, there has been new news about the Xiaomi folding screen mobile phone.

In early February, Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co., Ltd. published an invention patent entitled "Support Structure of Flexible Screen, Flexible Screen Structure and Terminal Equipment".

At the same time, there is news from the supply chain that the Xiaomi folding screen mobile phone will be unveiled in 2021.

　　It has also been reported recently that Honor has registered its folding screen product trademark Magic X, and the product may be released in 2021.

　　A reporter from China-Singapore Jingwei noted that Honor CEO Zhao Ming has stated more than once that Honor will follow up on folding screen phones.

Zhao Ming said in February 2019, “Of course Honor will launch folding screen mobile phone products, but I am worried that the price of such devices is too high, and the young people that Honor faces may not accept it. However, with the expansion of production scale, the price of folding screen mobile phones Will start to decline."

　　In addition, a patent for a folding screen design of vivo has also been exposed. The patent shows that this folding screen of vivo is folded inward and is also equipped with a stylus.

　　It is worth noting that Apple, a major player in the mobile phone industry, has also made new progress in the development of folding screen products.

A source in Apple’s supply chain recently told DigiTimes that South Korea’s LG is helping Apple develop screens for foldable phones, but whether LG will eventually become a screen supplier for Apple’s foldable phones is yet to be determined.

　　Bloomberg reported in January 2021 that Apple is beginning to test folding screen phones, but Apple has not announced its own folding screen phone plans.

According to reports, Apple currently has several plans for the size of folding screen phones. The most likely one is to maintain the same 6.7-inch screen as the iPhone 12 Pro Max, but it can be folded inward to reduce the size, which is what we often Said "clamshell".

　　"Apple's foldable screen phone is already on the way." Sun Yanbiao said, according to his knowledge, Apple has contacted a subsidiary of a domestic liquid metal manufacturer several times, and the hinge has been sampled four or five times.

He predicts that there will be folding screen phones in the iPhone 13 series in 2021.

　　"The folding screen mobile phone market is still waiting to explode, but the entry of many new players will accelerate the maturity of the upstream and downstream industry chains and the expansion of the market. For consumers, these changes mean better experience, more choices, and lower prices. Screen mobile phone products.” The analyst said.

(Zhongxin Jingwei APP)

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