In the popular business district of Nanshan District, Shenzhen, Huawei, glory, Xiaomi, oppo and other stores are lined up. The war of high-end brands has started one after another in 2021, and the folding screen has become the protagonist of the counter.
A mobile phone salesperson told reporters: “shortly after the launch of Huawei’s new P50 pocket, the white model had to be sold for 1000 yuan, and the gold model had to be sold for 4000 yuan. Earlier, in the new stage of Huawei’s previous generation of folding screen mobile phones, some people were willing to increase the price by more than 20000, and I sold six at a high price.”
When the base number of folding screen mobile phones is still small, “one machine is difficult to find” and “pre-sale is full” have become the common status quo of the front-end sales. Although it accounts for less than 1% of global mobile phone sales, it is undeniable that folding screen mobile phones, as a high-end mobile phone species, are rapidly entering the crowd.
Chen Jun, deputy general manager and chief analyst of Qunzhi consulting, told the 21st Century Business Herald reporter that according to the latest survey data of sigmaintell, the global shipment scale of foldable smartphones in 2021 was about 7.21 million, with a year-on-year increase of about 171.9%. It is expected that the global shipment scale of foldable smartphones in 2022 will reach about 14.4 million, with a year-on-year increase of about 99.6%, It is expected to exceed 70 million in 2025.
The threshold of tens of millions of shipments is close at hand, and the market is still growing at a high speed. Since the second half of last year, various companies have intensively launched new folding screen products, which is a key moment to push 2022 to scale. Many people in the industry believe that 2022 has the opportunity to usher in the turning point of folding screen mobile phones.
At present, both the head brand and the core supply chain continue to increase investment on the folding screen.
Li Xianjie, deputy director of TCL Huaxing advanced product development department, said in an interview with 21st Century Business Herald: “In 2022, all mobile phone manufacturers, including Lenovo, oppo, vivo and glory, will continue to actively layout folding products. By the end of 2022, oppo may launch the first slidable roll product. Samsung plans to launch the roll product and three fold product as soon as 2023. In the short term, the left and right fold and up and down order fold are still the mainstream of folding products, and TCL Huaxing is also developing multi-form folding products at the same time. It is predicted that 2023-202 Apple’s folding mobile phone will be available in 4 years, which is expected to set off a wave and lead to the wider popularization of folding screens. “
Although there are still flaws in the experience of folding screen mobile phones, whether the sales volume can rise rapidly and whether the product line can be continuously supported need to be considered. However, with the maturity of the overall supply chain and the decline of costs, the ecology of folding screen will also enter version 2.0 and further move towards the public.
Scramble for c-position of folding screen
In the past MWC, folding screen mobile phones are still an important arena for giants. Huawei, Samsung, oppo, glory and other brands have displayed the latest products. This year, the competition for hegemony of folding screen will become more and more intense. Who wins the C position also means the advancement of high-end image.
From the current shipment volume, Samsung and Huawei occupy the main share of the folding screen Market in the global market. According to the statistics of Qunzhi consulting, the shipment volume of Samsung folding screen mobile phones in 2021 was 5.8 million, accounting for 81% of the market; Huawei shipped 1 million units, accounting for 13.9%; Millet shipments were 200000, accounting for 2.7%.
With the entry of domestic manufacturers such as glory and oppo, the pattern will change in 2022. In the next 2-3 years, Apple’s choice will also become a wind vane and an important variable.
Chen Jun told reporters: “Apple is indeed evaluating and studying folding products. However, due to Apple’s special demands on the technology and process of folding products, the current industrial chain still needs time to further upgrade and improve. Based on this, Qunzhi consulting believes that Apple will release folding products in 2025, and the first product is still uncertain. Specifically, mobile phones or laptops are under test and pre research.”
If two years ago, mobile phone brands had different attitudes towards folding screen, now, the investment in folding screen mobile phones has become a common direction. Recently, Zhao Ming, CEO of glory, said in an interview that folding screen will be a new growth field, and glory must invest in the future, “Both ordinary mobile phones and folding screens will become the mainstream of smart phones. When we released glory Magic V, we also announced our strategy to make the folding screen the main machine. Until today, Magic V is out of stock, and we have to wait 15 to 30 days to get it. We see the potential pain point of users, that is, we need to make the folding screen lighter, thinner and more powerful Longer pool life, etc. “
For brands, folding screen has become a necessary element of high-end, which cannot be profitable in the short term. They must also show their technical and product strength and find new growth points in high-end and large-scale.
On the one hand, from the trend of the mobile phone industry, high-end has become a new driving force of the mobile phone market. On March 3, GfK’s latest report pointed out that models with good quality, fast response and powerful functions have become the first choice for consumers who want to buy new smartphones. This trend led to the average price of smartphones rising to US $368 last year (US $318 in 2020). Affected by the high-end effect (that is, the sales price rises despite the decline in sales), the sales of the global smartphone market has maintained a growth trend, and this trend continues. Between October and December 2021, the average price of smart phones rose again to $392, 6.5% higher than that in 2021.
On the other hand, many insiders pointed out to reporters that folding screen technology is a new competitive point for Android and IOS in the high-end market, and also helps domestic manufacturers compete directly with apple. As a new category, folding screen mobile phones not only upgrade the mechanical structure, but also strengthen the productivity and tool attributes of mobile phones. In addition to the innovation at the hardware level, Android smartphone manufacturers also have localization opportunities in the reconstruction of application ecology.
According to Chen Jun, in 2022, folding screen mobile phones are still on the rise, and the industrial chain of folding machines is still in the stage of rapid growth. The folding screen mobile phones released by various companies are also located in super flagship models. The market pricing is generally high, and the application scenarios of products are still in the forefront