Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, China's top smartphone vendor and the third biggest smartphone maker in the world after Samsung and Apple, will debut its first foldable phone in 2019. And rumors have it Huawei aims to beat Samsung Electronics Co, Ltd to the punch.
The phone, whose name hasn't been revealed, will be high-end model costing a hefty $2,000 which is a lot more expensive than comparative handsets from Samsung and Apple. The new Huawei foldable might also come with three rear cameras similar to the P20 Pro, which was first phone in the world to sport three cameras when it hit the market last March. This phone won't have any moving mechanical parts and will fold inside.
Some industry sources say the phone's foldable OLED will come from LG Display, which is quite odd since LG previously said it will only begin producing this type of display in 2020. Samsung OLED is more advanced at this stage compared to LG's.
Huawei is also working on a range of new phones, said Jim Xu, Huawei Consumer Business President. In addition, Huawei will launch a "gaming smartphone" to compete against the Razer Phone and Asus' ROG Phone. Huawei is also the world's largest telecom equipment maker and China's largest telephone-network equipment maker.
Samsung is the world's largest smartphone maker in terms of devices sold. It's already set a launch date in 2019 for its foldable "Samsung Galaxy X" flagship smartphone, which will feature a revolutionary and first-of-its-kind foldable display.
Samsung's new foldable phone will feature a 3.5 inch OLED display on the outside and the equivalent of two 3.5 inch OLED displays on the inside. When it's open, the phone's total screen area will be close to seven inches. The Galaxy X can be folded like a book but opened like a tablet.
Production of the bendable phone will be limited at first since Samsung intends to determine the market reaction to a never-before-seen device. The Samsung Galaxy X is widely expected to arrive in the first half of 2019.
