Economic Observer reporter Qian Yujuan
On December 12, a "spokesperson for Xiaomi" posted on Weibo: "Recently, Mr. Yu Chengdong made untrue remarks about our company's keel hinge technology for no reason, which is seriously inconsistent with the facts. We ask Mr. Yu Chengdong to follow the basic rules of 'science and rigor', and refrain from smearing his peers and misleading the public. ”
The cause of the incident can be traced back to the speech of Yu Chengdong, Huawei's executive chairman and CEO of Device BG, at the 2023 Pollen Annual Meeting (Huawei Fan Interactive Conference) held recently.
Our double-spin droplet hinges directly become keels, but the keels are practically non-existent. At that time, Yu Chengdong said that friends took Huawei's technology patents over, "slightly modify it and say it is their own", although he did not directly say the name of the mobile phone manufacturer, but said the word "keel", which is equivalent to directly targeting Xiaomi.
Xiaomi's spokesperson pointed out in Weibo, "The keel hinge is a new generation of folding hinge developed by Xiaomi Group, and the industry's first first-class rod set structure, which brings more precise, stronger and more reliable excellent folding quality." ”
Whether it is the design idea or the mechanical structure, Xiaomi's self-developed keel hinge is completely different from the so-called double-spin waterdrop hinge announced by Mr. Yu Chengdong. The above-mentioned statement also released the application diagram and related time of the "keel hinge" technology patent, which was patented on September 18, 2020, and was granted a patent on January 5, 2021, and was first applied on Xiaomi mixfold3 in August 2023.
The "double spinning water drop hinge" mentioned by Yu Chengdong applied for a patent on December 13, 2019, and will not be disclosed until June 18, 2021. Yu Chengdong once said at a previous press conference, "Huawei's waterdrop hinge is an exclusive patent, and other companies must use Huawei's patents if they want to realize the technology of folding screen closure without gaps." ”
Previously, when Xiaomi released the folding screen mobile phone MIX Fold3, it announced that through the application of keel hinge and self-developed flexible screen materials, the folding of the mobile phone is smoother, without obvious wrinkles or creases. Xiaomi announced that the "keel turning" is made of carbon-ceramic steel, and the internal structure adopts the first connecting rod hinge, including 14 movable joints and 198 hinge parts.
After studying the technical information disseminated by Mr. Yu Chengdong's company and the published patent information, and verified by actual dismantling, the so-called double-spin droplet hinge adopts the design scheme of '2-stage rod group, 3 components and 4 low pairs'. The above statement emphasizes that the mechanical structure of its self-developed keel shaft adopts the design of "3-level rod group, 5 components and 7 low pairs".
The reporter inquired about the public information and found that Huawei's patent application for "Level 3 Rod Group" was made public on October 29, 2021 and May 5, 2023.
A management person from the upstream chain of the mobile phone industry chain told the Economic Observer reporter about the technology patent dispute between Huawei and Xiaomi, as China's smartphone manufacturers, they are deeply involved in the field of folding screen mobile phones, and continue to carry out research and development and innovation for related solutions such as screens, hinges and batteries, "The exclusive patent dispute reflects the fierce competition between enterprises in the technology industry, and it is a protracted war." ”
The solution to the technical problems related to hinges has always been one of the key points of the industry in the research and development direction of folding screen mobile phones. In the view of the upstream of the above-mentioned mobile phone industry chain, when mobile phone manufacturers solve the "bottleneck" of folding screen mobile phone products through innovative "black technology", they can not only gain the attention of the consumer market, but also determine whether the brand products can obtain a higher market share in the future.
Regarding Xiaomi's official public shouting, as of press time, Huawei has not made any response to this.