Huawei’s take on the foldable phone was supposed to launch this month, but after Samsung experienced troubles with the review units it sent out, the Chinese company opted to delay the release of the Mate X. A spokesperson told CNBCthat it’s conducting extra tests to make sure the device runs as it should. The foldable phone will be launched in September. Samsung hasn’t revealed yet when it’ll launch the Galaxy Fold.
The race to release foldable smartphones is on. Xiaomi just teased its take on the technology through a teaser video uploaded on Weibo (the Chinese equivalent to Twitter). It shows Xiaomi’s co-founder and President Lin Bin tinkering around with a double-folding phone. It’s a unique interpretation of the trend, with the sides of the phone folding in and out to switch from a tablet to a more compact smartphone. We don’t have details beyond what’s in the video. The phone, which is an engineering mode, is said to have overcome “a series of technical problems such as flexible folding screen technology, four-wheel drive folding shaft technology, flexible cover technology, and MIUI adaptation.”
There are, of course, obvious weak points to the device. Having it fold on two ends means there are more moving parts that can be damaged. Availability is also an issue, beyond the market Xiaomi caters to. We’re also curious to see if the ends when folded to the back of the device are usable. Xiaomi is known to undercut its competition while offering good value for its devices, so we’re also curious how much this device will cost. Samsung is rumoured to be revealing its foldable phone next month, ahead of Mobile World Congress. Now, we want to see if Xiaomi will try and catch up and release any news at MWC about this phone.
It’s been years since Samsung has teased us about it developing a foldable phone. But it looks like they’re finally ready to talk about it. Samsung Mobile President DJ Koh told CNBC that the company might have more to share about the device at its upcoming developer’s conference in November. Samsung has confirmed in the past that it is working on a foldable phone but has been mum on details. Koh tells CNBC the reason behind this: "You can use most of the uses ... on fold(ed) status. But when you need to browse or see something, then you may need to unfold it. But even unfolded, what kind of benefit does that give compared to the tablet? If the unfolded experience is the same as the tablet, why would they (consumers) buy it? So every device, every feature, every innovation should have a meaningful message to our end customer. So when the end customer uses it, (they think) 'wow, this is the reason Samsung made it'."
As for when we’ll see an actual unit remains a mystery. Samsung previously said that we should expect the phone this 2018 but recent reports claim we might see it in early 2019. And if Samsung is teasing the device this November, that report seems more likely.
Report has it Samsung took advantage at being at one of the biggest trade shows in the world to see how its partners and other users would respond to what is being touted as the next big trend in tech: foldable displays. The South Korean tech company reportedly showed off its foldable mobile display concept in closed door meetings at CES 2018. As GSMArenareports, there have been hints on the show floor with regards to foldable panel technology but UX design might be pushing back production to next year.
Sunday, June 16, 2019 at 8:14PM 
