Huawei Foldable Phone With Galaxy Fold-Like Design Reported to Launch This Year, Tipped to Be Aggressively Priced

HIGHLIGHTS

Young claims Huawei will launch the foldable phone in September
Huawei may introduce it alongside the Mate series in the fall
Huawei is facing issues with UTG solution for clamshell model

Huawei is reportedly working on an aggressively priced foldable device for launch later this year. Ross Young, CEO of Display Supply Chain Consultants, claims that Huawei is working on in-folding foldable device, similar to the Galaxy Fold, instead of its previously released outward-folding phones like the Huawei Mate X and Huawei Mate Xs. Young claims that this device will be aggressively priced, which would be welcome, given that its previous foldable phone models were both priced above EUR 2,000.

Young, in an interview with GregglesTV on YouTube revealed a few details about Huawei’s foldable phone plans this year. He noted that the company is looking to bring both clamshell and in-folding designs to the market. It may launch the in-folding model as soon as September or October of 2020, and price it aggressively for wider reach.

In the video, Young elaborated, “We think that a lot of companies are looking at Samsung’s strategy for the clamshell (design) for the more aggressively priced version of a foldable and then the in-folding version for a more expensive and tablet-like experience. We expect to see Huawei pursue both the clamshell and in-folding models, and we think they’re struggling to come up with an ultra-thin glass solution right now for the clamshell. But we do expect them to do an in-folding model later this year, and be pretty aggressively priced.” Young also said that the company has ordered over 500,000 display units according to his supply chain sources.

Samsung is also reportedly working on the Galaxy Fold 2, and the company is expected to launch it alongside the Galaxy Note 20 series sometime in August. Huawei could also launch this in-folding phone model alongside its next-gen Mate series, as that is when Huawei traditionally releases the flagship series. Samsung introduced the Galaxy Z Flip in February with a clamshell-like foldable design, and Huawei looks to introduce a new foldable phone with the same design, according to Young. However, the in-folding phone will release first, and the clamshell variant should be launched after that, after Huawei finds a solution for the ultra-thin glass.