“I ran to 8 stores and didn’t buy a folding screen mobile phone!” Recently, mobile phone users make complaints about their own products. The reporter of Securities Daily found that the folding screen mobile phone suddenly became popular and became a “scarce product”. On the market, several newly listed folding screen mobile phones are out of stock in a large area, showing a state of short supply.
While the market demand surged, the upstream and downstream manufacturers of folding screen also acted frequently and expanded their capacity one after another. It is reported that Samsung Electronics, a mobile phone giant, is making the biggest adjustment to the company’s smartphone strategy in many years, betting on foldable phones to fight apple; Oppo has just obtained the latest appearance patent right of folding screen; Huawei is stepping up the research and development of new folding screen mobile phones. The screen manufacturers BOE and Visionox Technology Inc(002387) are also expanding production lines and increasing production capacity. A number of listed companies have joined the preparations, and the large-scale implementation of the supply chain is also accelerating.
Why is the demand for folding screen mobile phone in short supply? Can its heat continue? Is it really a huge innovation terminal or a bubble that is blown up?
is out of stock an illusion?
In just one month, oppo, Huawei and glory have successively launched three folding screen mobile phones, starting a market competition. At the same time, vivo, apple and Google have also been reported to enter the folding screen market.
For a time, the folding screen market became lively. In this year’s Spring Festival Gala, Huawei folding screen mobile phones appeared in the hands of Shen Teng, Sha Yi and many other actors and live audiences. “Folding screen mobile phone boarded the Spring Festival gala for the first time” has become a hot topic.
Folding screen mobile phones are heating up, driving investment opportunities in relevant links of the industrial chain such as display screen, hinge and cover sector. The folding screen sector has also become more active in recent days, and a number of listed companies have accelerated their actions. Suzhou Chunxing Precision Mechanical Co.Ltd(002547) , Hangzhou Zhongya Machinery Co.Ltd(300512) , heli, Wuhu Token Sciences Co.Ltd(300088) and other listed companies announced to accelerate the layout in the field of folding screen.
When the popularity of folding screen mobile phones is increasing, the market is also in short supply.
The reporter of Securities Daily found that on various e-commerce platforms such as jd.com and Taobao flagship store, several folding screen mobile phones just listed recently are out of stock.
Oppo find n is currently in the status of reservation and has no stock. According to oppo sources, the first batch of goods is 30000 units, but the reservation volume of the whole network has exceeded 1 million units. At present, the model has been sold out. The rush purchase time of the next batch of public version is at 10:00 on February 11. Huawei P50 treasure box, which was launched two months ago, and glory magicv, which was launched last month, are also in the reservation status. These mobile phones are also in short supply in offline stores.
Because one machine is hard to find, “scalpers” are also active. Mobile phones with an original price of 6000 or 7000 yuan have even been sold at an increased price of 2000 or 3000 yuan. Some online platforms have also derived the business of making folding screen mobile phones on behalf of others.
\u3000\u3000 “Short supply is a marketing illusion. The thunder and rain of folding screen mobile phones are small. Previously, manufacturers had low expectations for the market, only made a few concept machines, and did not really produce in mass. At present, the market is hot, but the overweight capacity of many manufacturers is limited by technology and cost, so it is difficult to start quickly. According to our survey, the order rate of various e-commerce platforms is probably some number of manual manufacturing Just words, not the real order situation. ” Zhang Xiaorong, an expert of China artificial intelligence society, disclosed to the reporter of Securities Daily.
From the perspective of products, the folding screen is actually not as difficult as expected in technology, and its supply is tight or affected by the shortage of chips to a certain extent. “At present, the innovation of mainstream mobile phones is insufficient and the price is falsely high. With the downward exploration of the price of folding screen mobile phones, many young groups are interested in more fresh folding screen mobile phones. Although the insufficient supply of chips affects the volume of mobile phones, there is more speculation in the popularity of folding screen mobile phones at this stage. Its real popularization needs more mature technology and real recognition by consumers.” Deng Weiqiang, a lecturer and expert in the field of artificial intelligence at Macao University of science and technology.
four constraints to be broken
According to the report of cinno research, a market research institution, the sales volume of folding screen mobile phones in the global market is expected to reach 15.69 million in 2022, with a year-on-year increase of 107%. Is the explosion of folding screen mobile phones really coming?
Mobile phone mobile phone mobile phone has the advantages of large screen and split screen interaction compared with traditional direct screen mobile phone. But because of its immature technology, it has been repeatedly tucking out, make complaints about the creases of folding screen phones and the compatibility of daily application scenarios.
In Zhang Xiaorong’s view, folding screen mobile phones have always had four problems: one is the immature hinge technology, the other is the poor screen life, the third is the limited battery life, and the fourth is the lack of unique app ecology. “There are preliminary solutions to these problems, but there is still a certain distance from consumer satisfaction.”
Yi Xianjing, deputy general manager of Dixian information, said: “the flexible OLED technology of folding screen does have more advantages than LCD, but the low yield, few hinge design players, insufficient competition, technology innovation and high cost are the four main aspects restricting the development of the industry.”
On the whole, the flexible technology of folding screen is undoubtedly one of the display innovation directions, but the cost of folding screen is still high. Although BOE, Huaxing optoelectronics and other panel manufacturers have participated in and continuously expanded production capacity, their technical level and profitability need to be enhanced.
According to Zhang Xiaorong, The mobile phone industry is in a bottleneck of innovation and fatigue. New products are few and the market is close to saturation. New concepts are needed to maintain consumer concern. The folding screen mobile phone is highly innovative, and is highly expected. But the market is in the concept of popularization. It takes some time to go from the positive start. The manufacturer must break the bubble and really win the market with innovation. Otherwise, the folding screen mobile phone can easily become a transitional product before it has reached scale. “
