For a long time, the shape of smart phones has evolved according to our wishes, and the function has become more intelligent, and the design has also moved towards the concept of full-screen with narrower and narrower borders. It seems that the folding screen shape is bound to appear at the moment when smart phones are born.
what is a folding screen mobile phone
a folding screen mobile phone refers to a smart phone whose screen can be bent and folded in half. There are two ways to design the folding screen mobile phone: using hinge structure to connect the screens, and using magnetic structure and structures like hook and loop, hook and notch to connect the screens.
according to the folding method, the folding screen mobile phone can be divided into three types: horizontal folding, horizontal folding and vertical folding. Among them, Samsung, Huawei and Rouyu Technology, which are the first companies to lay out the folding screen mobile phone market, all adopt hinge design.
development history of folding screen mobile phone
The earliest folding screen mobile phone is KS8 released by Kyocera in 212. It has two independent 3.5-inch TFTLCD screens, each with a resolution of 8x48, and the combined visual size is 4.7 inches, which can be switched between single screen mode, tablet mode and multi-task mode.
In 213, Samsung exhibited a flexible OLED screen at CES, and based on the flexible characteristics of AMOLED, it released a concept machine of a foldable mobile phone, which was equivalent to the size of a tablet computer after deployment, but it was not mass-produced.
in October 217, ZTE released the AXONM mobile phone, which consists of two 5.2-inch TFTLCD screens, and it became a 6.75-inch screen after expansion.
ZTE's AXOM mobile phone is similar to Kyocera's KS8, which is a folding screen mobile phone formed by connecting two independent screens through a rotating shaft. After unfolding, it can perform multi-task collaboration, and there is a physical division between the two screens, which is not a real folding screen mobile phone based on one screen.
In November, 218, a real folding screen mobile phone was exhibited at Samsung's Global Developers Conference, and a screen was freely folded, code-named GalaxyF. The smart phone consists of a 4.6-inch front AMOLED flexible screen and a 7.3-inch foldable screen, and the 7.3-inch screen is folded inward, which can withstand more than 2, folds.
On February 2th, 219, on the eve of the opening of MWC, GalaxyFold, a folding screen mobile phone, was officially released, with a price of $1,98. Subsequently, Huawei released the MateX foldable mobile phone on February 24th. mateX uses a 6.6-inch main screen and a 6.38-inch auxiliary screen, which can be seamlessly docked into an 8-inch large screen, supporting fast charging and 5G functions.
On June 29th, 221, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. disclosed a patent for flexible screen and foldable equipment to solve the technical problem of poor folding effect of flexible screen.
Recently, some media have exposed the parameter information of Samsung's new generation folding screen mobile phone Galaxy Z Fold3, and vivo has also registered trademarks such as NEX Fold, which means that it intends to launch folding screen mobile phones.
Fuchi Hi-Tech and Jingyan Technology, subsidiaries of Dongmu Co., Ltd., are the leading manufacturers in the field of MIM technology in China, and both of them have newly entered the list of TOP2 suppliers announced by Apple recently. This technology can be applied to the hinge of folding screen mobile phone. Sixue believes that Apple is expected to sell 15 million to 2 million folding screen iPhone； in 223. Folding screen mobile phones may become a new form of smart phones, pushing high-end models into the next big update cycle.
Difficulties in folding screen technology
1. Screen problems. Judging from the current folding screen mobile phone, the thickness after folding is somewhat exaggerated. The small screen on the outside and the large screen on the inside, coupled with various mechanical connection structures, are doomed to be as thin as ordinary smart phones.
even if the volume can be reduced after being folded in half, it only reduces the projection area, and the product itself still takes up a lot of space. In addition, the folding center line is prone to obvious creases, and the flatness and display effect of the foldable flexible screen may not be compared with that of ordinary LCD and OLED display screens, and quality problems such as liquid leakage may occur after repeated folding, which may even affect the service life.
2. battery life problem. Due to the slow development of battery technology, the battery capacity is slightly insufficient in the case of the increasing screen size of smart phones. However, the internal space of the folding screen mobile phone is reduced, and the volume has to be controlled. It is conceivable that the battery capacity is likely to remain at a normal level or even less. Although the battery can be placed on one side of the device, the device can be made thinner or placed on both sides at the same time, but it is not perfect.
3. the price problem. Even if the above problems are solved, the price of folding screen mobile phone will be as high as its heat in a short time because of new technology and new technology!
most mobile phones are not less than 1, yuan! Therefore, it is basically impossible to imagine that the development speed of folding screen is as fast as that of full screen, so it will take at least three to five years for folding screen mobile phones to improve this folding screen technology.
Future development trend of folding screen mobile phone
1. Curved screen will become the final form of mobile phone
Looking at the screen development trend of mobile phone industry, we can see that the screen proportion of smart phones is gradually increasing, and the border is gradually decreasing. From the initial touch screen to narrow border display, the appearance of curved screen has narrowed the left and right borders, and the overall screen has become the mainstream trend. However, the development of full-screen has reached the limit. In the future, if you want to continue to increase the screen size, you can only consider folding the screen.
compared with the folding screen, the folding screen can save more space by curling, which is more convenient to carry and meets the needs of consumers. therefore, from the perspective of flexible AMOLED products, the folding screen is still a transitional application product, and the rollable screen is the ultimate form of flexible OLED screen mobile phones.
2. localization of flexible OLED panels
in the early days, most of the global flexible AMOLED production capacity was concentrated in Samsung, Korea, and Samsung's market share exceeded 9%. At this stage, mainstream mobile phone manufacturers have laid out the folding screen mobile phone market, which greatly promotes the demand for flexible AMOLED in the mobile phone industry. Because the flexible AMOLED production line has the characteristics of high investment cost, great technical difficulty and long climbing time of yield, most panel manufacturers in Japan and Taiwan Province, China have withdrawn from the layout of flexible AMOLED field due to lack of financial support. Driven by the increasing demand, panel manufacturers in China are facing difficulties. In recent two years, they have invested in flexible OLED production lines on a large scale, and several 6-generation flexible AMOLED production lines have been mass-produced.
At last
In the current highly homogeneous environment of mobile phone products, the folding screen has opened up a road of differentiation. Because of its portable and large-screen experience, it is almost certain that it will become a popular mobile phone form in the future and become an important part of the high-end mobile phone market.
However, the reality is very skinny. In the past two years, folding screens have always been marginalized products, far from reaching the level of large-scale popularization. Senior Sixue boils down to three main reasons: fragile products, high price and poor software optimization.
Because the hinge technology of folding screen mobile phone is immature, the hinge itself is easy to be damaged, and the screen also has obvious creases. Some folding screens with outward folding scheme are more likely to face the problem of screen wear. Therefore, users will inevitably find that the product is fragile and the actual experience is not good.
In addition, the core hardware such as flexible flexible screen and hinge is expensive to purchase, and the yield is low in the mass production process. Previously, the mainstream Huawei and Samsung folding screen mobile phones were basically priced at more than 17, yuan, which made it difficult for ordinary consumers to reach.