The rivalry of folding phones from Samsung and Huawei

Tram Ho

Huawei, the world’s largest telecommunications equipment maker and the second-largest smartphone company, has been in the fray with Samsung for folding phones since February 2019. The two companies are betting on folding technology, arguably the latest breakthrough in smartphone design since Apple introduced the iPhone in 2007, to demonstrate their technological prowess and revive the market. Smartphone school is stagnant.

But the Mate Xs, like the high-end Mate 30 series – introduced last year as Huawei’s answer to the iPhone 11 – doesn’t have Google Mobile Service, meaning users can’t access popular services like Google Play, YouTube, Gmail and Google Maps, an integral part of many users outside of China.

Instead, the Chinese company has built Huawei Mobile Service, accessible through Huawei AppGallery, its Google Play edition and App Store. Huawei Mobile Service, like rival Google, allows users to download all kinds of applications to their phones, but it will take time for the ecosystem to grow and mature.

Cuộc so găng điện thoại gập của Samsung và Huawei - Ảnh 1.

Huawei Mate Xs folding smartphone. Photo: Reuters.

The new Mate Xs, which runs on Huawei’s own built-in 5G chip platform, inherited last year’s design, opened it to become an 8-inch tablet. When closed, it breathes into a dual-screen smartphone with a 6.6-inch main screen.

The phone costs 2,499 EUR ($ 2,704), 9% more expensive than last year’s 2,299 EUR, Huawei Consumer Business Group CEO Richard Yu said in an online event. The phone will go on sale in March, and will be available on the world market instead of just China.

Last year was a difficult year for Huawei, but we are still trying to grow, ” Yu said during the filming event. ” We have shipped more than 10 million 5G smartphones as of January and will continue to focus on 5G smartphones .”

Samsung, on the other hand, retains the fold-in design, but changes the direction of the folds from horizontal to vertical and reduces the size. Instead of becoming a tablet-sized device, now the phone is only 6.7 inches when opened, just like a normal smartphone. Samsung also lowered the price to $ 1,380, compared to the $ 1,980 price of the Galaxy Fold.

Samsung has significantly reduced the price of its second foldable phone and we think this strategy will drive sales ,” said veteran technology analyst Eric Chiou at research firm WitsView. ” From our supply chain inspection, it looks like it will ship between 3 and 3.5 million units this year, a huge jump from last year’s folding phone shipments of between 500,000 and 600,000 units .”

Joey Yen, a technology analyst at research firm IDC, pointed out the striking differences in the strategy of Samsung and Huawei.

Huawei’s ambition for folding phones is to be a leader in technology and market trends, while Samsung not only sells foldable phones but also demonstrates what foldable phones can do for phone companies. Another smart, business opportunity for device vendors are mainly managed by Samsung , ”Yen said.

Cuộc so găng điện thoại gập của Samsung và Huawei - Ảnh 2.

Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip. Photo: Reuters.

Addressing three key issues – screen folds, pricing and technical challenges associated with mass production – will determine whether foldable phones can become popular.

Huawei and Samsung created a wave of information when they introduced their folding phones last year, but both companies delayed the device launch until the fall, because they needed more time to test and produce. . Huawei is also affected by the U.S. ban that makes it impossible to use Google Mobile Service apps, so its previous foldable phone was only available in the Chinese market.

Huawei has long intended to overtake its Korean rival to take the lead in technology and smartphone production worldwide. Yu said earlier that Huawei could have ousted Samsung in 2019 if it weren’t for Washington’s relentless pressure, including adding Huawei to the so-called blacklist in May.

Huawei is the world’s second-largest smartphone company by shipment value in 2019, accounting for 17.6% of the market share with more than 240 million units shipped, while Samsung leads with 21.6%. Apple closely followed the rate of 13.9%, according to data from IDC.

Huawei continues to prepare for major uncertainties by 2020. The Chinese company is facing a decline in demand and a delay in smartphone production caused by a deadly epidemic caused at home, in as the US is said to be considering further restraints on Huawei’s use of American technology. Samsung Electronics became under pressure as the corona virus disease epidemic spread to South Korea. The company was forced to temporarily close one of its smartphone factories after an employee became infected with a virus.

In addition to the latest smart phone, Huawei on February 24 also introduced a series of devices running on the company’s 5G technology, including a new tablet – MatePad Pro 5G – Wi-Fi router that supports 5G support and new MateBook laptops running on Intel processors and Advanced Micro Devices from the US and Microsoft’s Windows operating system.

Corona virus is the biggest risk to the smartphone industry this year. The Chinese market is most affected, and when China sneezes, the whole world catches a cold, ”said Yen of IDC. ” This is particularly bad news for Huawei, because it relied on the domestic market after being blacklisted by Washington last year .”

IDC this week lowered its forecast for global smartphone shipments in 2020 from 1.4 billion to 1.33 billion due to the corona virus outbreak. The revised forecast represents a 2.3% decline from last year’s 1.37 billion, a dramatic reversal from the previous 1.5% growth estimate.

The International Monetary Fund on February 22 cut China’s economic growth forecast for this year to 5.6% from the previous estimate of 6% in January, marking the lowest growth since. in 1990.

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Source : Genk