Considering that Oppo and vivo have fairly well-known foldable phones available (if you’re a phone enthusiast, that is), there is a craaaaaazy rumor going around. Per the Korea Economic Daily, a declining market share in the niche foldable category for both firms along with the speculation that Huawei is about to introduce a 10-inch tri-fold smartphone has led to a major shift in the market as far as Chinese manufacturers are concerned.
The report says that Oppo and vivo have decided they will exit the foldable market leaving it for Samsung and Huawei to dominate. The report, which is written in Korean and translated by this writer using Google Translate, adds that Huawei’s plan with the 10-inch tri-fold device is to take business away from Apple in China.
Huawei electrified China with the surprise release of its first 5G phone since 2020 as it powered the Mate 60 flagship series with its own 7nm Kirin 9000s 5G application processor (AP). The SoC was built by China’s leading foundry, SMIC, despite U.S. sanctions that prevent SMIC and Huawei from obtaining advanced chip-making equipment. During last year’s fourth quarter, Huawei scored a 36.2% year-over-year gain in smartphone shipments as its market share in China rose to 13.9%. During the first two weeks of 2024, Huawei surpassed Apple to become the top phone manufacturer in China.
If the report is legit, Oppo will give up on making its Find N and Find N Flip foldables
The Korea Economic Daily added that a strong Huawei, leading the domestic smartphone market which is the number one smartphone market in the world, can lead to a change in the global smartphone market where Apple and Samsung each have about a 20% slice of the worldwide smartphone pie.
Last October, Oppo released the third-generation Find N3 (which is a book-style foldable) and the clamshell Find N3 Flip. Vivo has released the second-generation vivo X Fold 2 and the X Flip. New foldables are expected from vivo in April. The most recent Huawei foldable is the Mate X5, a book-style foldable with a 7.85-inch internal display that was released last September.
