Huawei Wants To Beat Samsung By Launching Foldable Smartphone First

Huawei is really determined to be the first player in the new foldable smartphone market. The Chinese company is currently hard at work in developing its device because it is eyeing a late 2018 release.

On Monday, DigiTimes learned from South Korean media that after much speculation, Huawei is indeed teaming up with BOE Technology in developing its foldable smartphones.

Huawei reportedly wants to beat Samsung Electronics to the new smartphone segment, so it is planning to release its first foldable phone in November 2018. This would ensure Huawei’s advantage over Samsung, who will likely launch its own foldable smartphone the following year.

Huawei has chosen to partner with BOE, since the latter is the first China-based panel maker to produce flexible OLED panels from its 6G fab last year. As part of their partnership, BOE is expected to produce 8-inch in-folding OLED flexible panels that will be used in making Huawei’s foldable phone.

It’s also believed that BOE could secure more OLED panel orders from Huawei because the former has been developing related technologies. BOE was also ordered to develop four types of foldable panels by two other smartphone vendors. The vendors’ names were not disclosed.

The report comes days after Korean website ETNews leaked that Huawei could form a partnership with BOE in making its foldable smartphone a reality. After all, BOE already has a reputation for manufacturing high quality LCD panels and flexible OLED panels.

Last week, BOE attended the SID Display Week expo in Los Angeles. At its booth, the company showcased foldable displays, a foldable phone with a 5.99-inch display and a foldable tablet with a 7.56-inch display.

“The foldable all-screen WQHD AMOLED display launched by BOE can achieve minimum dynamic bending with a radius of only 1mm. It can be bent more than 100,000 times and has an NTSC color gamut up to 118 [percent], which helps to improve user experience considerably,” BOE said in a press release.