Huawei is ready to take on Samsung in the race towards foldable smartphones.
The Chinese firm, which is behind the excellent Huawei P20 Pro (pictured above) and which leapfrogged Apple to become the world’s second-largest smartphone seller in Q2, says it’s already working on such a device.
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What’s more, it says it will be unveiled within 12 months.
“Why are you still using a computer? Probably because you find a smartphone display too small. We will change that. It is conceivable that you could fold out a display,” Huawei CEO Richard Yu told Die Welt in an interview this week (via BBC).
“We are already working on it. You will not even have to wait another year.” Big claims.
Samsung’s mobile chief, DJ Koh, recently dropped similar hints.
In September, he said “it’s time to deliver” a foldable device, and suggested that the device could be unveiled at the Samsung Developer Conference in November.
However, he added that the development of the device has proven to be “complicated”, which suggests that the handset still might not be ready, or even close to ready, for mass-production.
Huawei’s situation may or may not be similar, with Yu only talking about the launch of a foldable smartphone, rather than a full-blown release.
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This isn’t the first we’ve heard about Huawei’s foldable phone ambitions. In March, it was reported that the company was planning to use OLED panels from the Chinese supplier BOE for a limited run of foldable phones that could arrive at the start of 2019.
Do you thinking foldable phones will be genuinely useful, or is this all little more than a gimmick? Share your thoughts with us on Twitter @TrustedReviews.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.