Electronics

Folding screen mobile phones have become a "dark horse" in the depressed mobile phone market and are speeding up "running".

According to the Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation Report, in the third quarter of this year, the shipment of China's folding screen mobile phone products exceeded 1 million, with a year-on-year growth of about 246%.

At present, folding screen mobile phones have become a race track for mainstream manufacturers to compete for layout. In addition to Xiaomi and Vivo, Google, Apple and other giants are also planning to enter the folding screen market. On the evening of November 2, Huawei released the latest folding screen phone with HarmonyOS3, positioned Huawei's P50 Pocket as a downgrade, and refreshed the price floor of the product camp again. Huacheng's import and export data observation report.

Folding screen mobile phones were once regarded by mobile phone manufacturers as an important "bridge" to enter the high-end market. However, with the influx of more manufacturers, continuous changes in technology, and gradually lower prices, new trends have emerged in market competition and development.

Folding screen mobile phone market or new pattern

The data issued by many institutions shows that the smartphone industry is entering a long winter.

Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation reported that in the third quarter of this year, China's smartphone shipments fell to 66.9 million units, down 16.0% year on year. Smartphone shipments fell for the sixth consecutive quarter.

Against the background that the market contraction is difficult to change in the short term, folding screen mobile phones have become a variable of the industry, and become the "dark horse" of the industry with the rapid growth of shipments. According to IDC data, in the third quarter of this year, the shipment of folding screen mobile phone products in China increased by about 246% year on year, the largest quarterly shipment ever.

In terms of market share, Huawei occupies the first place in the domestic folding screen market with 44.9%; Samsung ranked second with 22.2%; Vivo, millet and glory followed.

"The shipment of folding screen mobile phones has greatly increased, which has become the 'hope' to boost the mobile phone industry. At present, the folding phone market has entered a rapid development stage from the exploratory stage. In terms of the competitive situation, Huawei has occupied nearly half of the market share in the domestic market, forming a pattern of 'one super and many strong'. With the entry of OPPO, vivo, Xiaomi, Glory, Lenovo and many other brands, the shipment has increased, and the cost of folding screen mobile phones is expected to continue to decline , lower the price of the whole machine. The situation that Huawei and Samsung dominate the development of this market may also change, forming a pattern of "warlords competing for hegemony". " Ding Shaojiang, founder of Nail Technology, said.

Competition market in subdivided fields needs differentiation

2022 is regarded as the "Year of Folding" of the smartphone industry. After a period of layout, the major mobile phone giants have also generally gone through the stage of "crossing the river by feeling the stones", and extended their tentacles to more market segments, and launched a new round of competition in positioning, technology and interactivity.

At present, mainstream folding screen mobile phone brands have entered their respective targeted markets with high-end positioning. With the entry of more brands and the reduction of the cost of upstream parts, the folding screen has entered a new stage of market for price development, and product competition for vertical groups and functional scenarios has gradually emerged.

From the perspective of Huawei's new folding screen mobile phone released this time, it is mainly positioned in the middle and low end market, which complements the high-end product line. Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei, also said that Huawei PocketS would mainly target young and fashionable people.

Up to now, among folding screen mobile phone users, the number of young people under the age of 35 has increased significantly, accounting for 58.2%. Folding screen mobile phone users are showing a younger trend, Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation reported.

Ming Shuliang, the founder of Wisdom Technology, believes that, "As the cost continues to decline, folding screen phones will continue to refresh the bottom line of prices. By the end of the year, the main folding screen models may all be priced at 6000 yuan. The trend of product development is to reduce prices, weight and thickness. Against this background, the competition of mainstream manufacturers will shift from high-end market to low-end market, and increase to more markets. The market competition will start around the needs of more subdivided young groups."

In terms of technology, folding screen mobile phones have made great progress in crease control, hinge life and lightness after more than three years of iteration. At present, key technologies such as Seiko quasi vertebral hinge have greatly reduced the screen crease problem, and the application of aviation grade materials such as titanium alloy has once again reduced the weight of mobile phones. This also benefited from the technical R&D and development of domestic suppliers, among which BOE's OLED, Dongmu Shares and Jingyan Technology's spindle solutions are relatively mature. At present, Huawei, Glory and other manufacturers have also launched a number of folding screen mobile phone versions that fold outward, inward and fold over, and are increasingly competing in the fields of imaging, performance and so on. This will also promote the development of folding screen mobile phones towards personalization and differentiation, and intensify the competition among manufacturers in related fields.

In addition, with the rapid penetration of Hongmeng and other operating systems in the mobile phone market, interactivity has become the focus of strength in the competition of folding screen mobile phone manufacturers. This time, Huawei's new machine uses the Harmony OS3 system, focusing on folding interaction. Previously, the folding screen phones of OPPO, vivo and other brands also emphasized the multi task function.

Ming Shuliang believes that there are still several bottlenecks in the development of the folding screen mobile phone industry: except for a few leading enterprises such as Huawei, most domestic enterprises can not independently complete the independent design of hinges at present, and the industrial chain is not perfect, relying to a certain extent on Amphenol and other manufacturers; Key materials in the hinge, such as liquid metal and high-strength MIM, still have insufficient capacity; The product differentiation is not strong, and manufacturers should go out of the differentiation path in the competition by improving innovation, Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation Report.