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Huawei could be the first company to launch a foldable smartphone in the world. According to a Nikkei report, the Chinese company plans to bring a foldable smartphone to the market early next year ahead of Android arch-rival Samsung.
The report claims Huawei will be using bendable OLED panels from the Chinese supplier Beijing Oriental Electronics (BOE) for a limited run of smartphones that could probably arrive in “very early 2019”. BEO, which will likely to supply OLED panels for Apple’s 2018 iPhone, might be an unfamiliar name to many; but the company has already proved that it is capable of developing flexible OLED panels.
“Huawei’s planned volume could be limited to some 20,000 to 30,000 units, or even less, for a small group of first-wave adopters,” one person familiar with Huawei’s plan told Nikkei. “The effort is mainly to demonstrate its technology capability and to attract the industry’s attention and media coverage.”
“The 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,” according to Yuanta Investment Consulting analyst Jeff Pu. Clearly, Huawei wants to beat Samsung in bringing the world’s first foldable smartphone to the market. The launch date of the foldable smartphone depends on the development of the technology and the durability of foldable panels, the report notes.
Also read: Is Huawei planning to get rid of the notch?
The report doesn’t mention the price of the foldable smartphone, but a WitsView analyst Eric Chiou believes profitability shouldn’t be a major concern for both Huawei and BOE. “Profitability for this project is not the first priority for the two Chinese companies,” said Chiou.
Huawei, the world’s third-largest smartphone maker, isn’t the only company planning to release a foldable smartphone in the future. The South Korean major Samsung is also actively working on a foldable smartphone, dubbed the Galaxy X. Samsung’s foldable smartphone, which is supposed to launch in limited numbers, might get announced at the beginning of 2019. The device is expected to cost anywhere between $1,500 (or approx Rs 1,02,937) and $2,000 (or approx Rs 1,37,250). The Galaxy X will apparently have a 7.3-inch flexible OLED display, though it will measure 4.5-inches when folded.
