2023 is the year that brands climbed on the foldable smartphone bandwagon, with brands such as Oppo, Google, Vivo, and OnePlus joining Samsung and Huawei in offering new and exciting takes on the form factor. While Huawei has been a minor player in Western markets since the ban, it has fought back to the top spot in its home market and, according to a report, will double down on its efforts to combat Samsung's Galaxy Fold series.
On the other hand, Samsung is said to have finished developing its first rollable smartphone. While we already know that Google is working on the Pixel Fold 2, it's reported that a couple of the BKK brands might fall by the wayside in the foldable segment this year.
Vivo, OPPO To Call It Quits On Foldables?
Possibly the biggest surprise of the report is that it's being reported by Chinese outlet Hankyung that Vivo and Oppo are set to quit making foldable phones entirely. This is at least partly due to Huawei's dominance in the Chinese market, which coincided with Oppo and Vivo's decline in sales over the past year.
If true, it's bad news for the foldable segment, and it remains to be seen if this will also affect OnePlus, which also jumped on the foldable bandwagon in 2023 with its warmly received Open device. We hope not, but we wouldn't be surprised if it were the case. Hopefully, we'll see some rumors of the Find N4 series, along with the OnePlus Open 2, surfacing in the coming months. Hopefully.
Samsung Rolls On
According to SamMobile, Samsung is looking at the rollable smartphone market, having completed developing such a device. That being said, depending on Huawei's progress in launching a dual-folding phone this year, Samsung might delay the rollable phone in preference to launching its own dual-folding handset. Samsung has the resources to go in either direction, though it would be nice to see Samsung launch the rollable phone in terms of sheet novelty and excitement value.
We almost had a rollable smartphone back in 2021, but then LG called it quits on the smartphone business and deprived us of its soon-to-launch device. It's still a shame that LG shut down its mobile division, especially having delivered the rather quirky Wing just a few months ago.
Huawei Moves Forward, Always
Whatever your thoughts on Huawei are, you can't help but admire how the company has coped since the US ban took its legs away in 2019. Having recently regained the top spot in the Chinese smartphone market, Huawei's efforts at keeping itself in the game should be applauded.
Following on from its Mate X series of foldables, it's claimed that Huawei will launch a new device featuring dual hinges, expanding into a 10-inch tablet. This Z-shaped foldable is said to be going into production during the first half of 2024. If the report is accurate, we may see something teased by Huawei during MWC 2024 in Barcelona.
