The competition of folding mobile phones is not a battlefield suitable for small factories.
After 17 months, Rouyu finally launched the second generation folding machine.
On March 25, Rouyu launched FlexPai 2 through an online conference. The appearance of the FlexPai 2 is not much different from that of the first-generation folding machine, and it still uses an outward-folding design. The unfolded screen reaches 7.8 inches. The FlexPai 2 is equipped with the Snapdragon 865 processor and uses the third-generation Cicada-wing full flexible screen launched at this conference. The hinge has been upgraded. The fuselage is thinner than the previous generation, but detailed data are not specified.
According to Liu Zihong, CEO of Rouyu Technology, This folding machine will be officially released in the next quarter. Based on this calculation, the interval between the official release of Rouyu’s first and second generation folding machines may reach 20 months, which obviously exceeds the normal update cycle (six months or one year) of the mobile phone. Samsung, Huawei 1st and 2nd generation folding machines are released at 12-month intervals.
Although folding phones are more concerned, the real protagonist of this conference is the third-generation cicada-wing folding screen.
According to Liu Zihong, this screen can withstand 200,000 folds, and the brightness, contrast, and response speed are greatly improved compared to the second-generation products. It is worth noting that Rouyu claims that its bending radius can reach 1 mm. But this bend radius data is questionable. Industry insiders tell us that the bending radius of Samsung ’s folding screen is currently at a few millimeters, and that of BOE and Huaxing Optoelectronics are over 2 mm. As a back-to-back screen factory that began to build flexible screen production lines only in 2018, it is unlikely that Rouyu’s technical strength will surpass these predecessors.
Rouyu officially said that the third-generation Cicada ’s full flexible screen has now entered mass production. Previously, the second-generation Cicada ’s full-flex screens have been mass-produced and shipped in 2018, and have been used in solutions for more than 500 corporate customers worldwide. There are many well-known brands among customers, including Louis Vuitton, Airbus, China Mobile, Li Ning, GAC, Toyota, France PSA, Legrand, Luzhou Laojiao, etc., are also used in the first-generation volume folding machine FlexPai, which will be mass-produced in the first quarter of 2019.
At the same time, Rouyu announced a strategic cooperation with ZTE, saying that the two parties will jointly explore a new category of smartphones, flexible folding screen mobile phones.
At the end of October 2018, Rouyu launched the first-generation folding machine FlexPai, which was the earliest release of folding mobile phones, which caused a lot of attention for a while. Although Liu Yuhong, CEO of Rouyu, said that it has been mass-produced, there are very few Rouyu folding machines on the market. The monthly turnover of its Tmall flagship store is only in the order of several hundred units. Rouyu is constantly facing skepticism from PPT.
Rouyu first launched the folding mobile phone at the end of 2018, grabbing the first sign of the concept, but its strength was limited. Samsung and Huawei folding machines quickly seized the market after it was launched. Huawei’s first-generation and second-generation folding machines have been hot-fried in China, while Rouyu’s folding machines have rarely received much attention.
Smartphone competition has developed to the present stage, and it is no longer a table of small factories. Folding machine technology is very difficult, and the market capacity is not large in the short term. Huawei, Samsung and other major manufacturers bring technological advantages, coupled with the brand’s advantages, one round down, the outcome is decided. Although Rouyu released the second-generation new machine, the prospect of competition in folding mobile phones is not optimistic.
Head picture from Rouyu