The approach of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, which will be held in the Catalan capital at the end of February, is clearly agitating the mobile industry. It was during this show in particular that Samsung Display, a major supplier of flexible screens for folding devices, demonstrated – in 2023 – prototypes of smartphones that could be folded into three, and no longer in two. If we are to believe the information obtained by the Korea Economic Dailyit is possible that these concepts, using or not Samsung screens, since BOE also produces flexible panels, will soon become a commercial reality.
South Korean media sources assure that Huawei would be ready to announce its first three-part folding smartphone in the first half of 2024. The device, which would fold into a “Z”, that is to say like an accordion, would feature a 10-inch panel at its maximum, and a screen comparable to that of a classic mobile once folded. ©. More than the current folding models, it would position itself in both the smartphone and tablet segments. Above all, at a time when Huawei is on the rise in China, buoyed by the success of its Mate 60 Pro series (reserved for its domestic market), such a device would be the instrument of reconquest of the number 1 place in the Middle Kingdom. It should be remembered that the firm with red petals, in fifth place in the ranking of smartphone sellers in China in the 3rd quarter of 2023, according to Counterpoint, rose to third place in last quarter, with 15.2% of the market according to the same analysis firm. And she doesn’t intend to stop there.
If the Korea Economic Daily It is understood that Huawei is preparing to launch mass production of a three-part folding smartphone, others are also of the opinion that Samsung would enter the race in 2024. The whistleblower Revegnuswhich complements the comments of the South Korean newspaper, discusses the manufacturer’s work and points to a possible product launch in the second half of the year.
All this remains to be considered with caution, but one thing is certain: overtaken by Apple in the telephone market in the last quarter of 2023, Samsung will undoubtedly increase its efforts to regain its place as leader and maintain its status as a driving force in the world of folding smartphones. He even whispers that a smartphone with a rollable screen would be on the rails, following the demonstration of prototypes of the kind at the very beginning of 2024…