Text: Huang Haifeng's correspondence life.
If you were asked to describe the folding screen mobile phone market in 2023, what words would you use? I have eight words in mind – growing against the trend and being unstoppable.
According to the "2024 China Folding Screen Mobile Phone Consumption Insight Report" (hereinafter referred to as the "Insight Report") issued by iResearch, China's folding screen mobile phone shipments will increase from 1.2 million units in 2020 to 6.1 million units in 2023, with a growth rate of more than 400%, which shows the product power of folding screens.
As a leader in the field of folding screen mobile phones, on February 22, Huawei brought the first hard dish of the new year to the mobile phone industry - the new small folding flagship Huawei Pocket 2.
With a fashionable aesthetic design, ultra-flat and ultra-reliable, full-focal XMAGE quad camera, ultraviolet sunscreen detection and other all-round experiences, the mobile phone has become a more fashionable, more comprehensive and more versatile small folding mobile phone benchmark, leading the small folding industry to leap forward.
From the release of Huawei Pocket 2, I feel Huawei's ambition to bring the best products to users and the industry, and continue to lead the small folding market.
So, how has the folding screen mobile phone market developed in the past few years? Can Huawei Pocket 2 break through and bring consumers an upgraded experience? Inspiration for the industry?
The popularity of folding screens remains high, and Huawei occupies half of the country
With the increasing maturity of technology and the vigorous pursuit of consumers, folding screen mobile phones are becoming the main consumer products in the high-end market of smartphones. According to the analysis of multiple reports, the sales of folding screen mobile phones have risen rapidly in recent years, and it is expected to continue to grow rapidly from 2024 to 2025. At the same time, the share of folding screen phones in the high-end phone market is expected to reach 20% by the end of 2025.
Rapid growth does not point to lying to win, but to fierce competition. In recent years, mainstream mobile phone manufacturers have been competing to accelerate the layout of folding screen mobile phones. At present, the form of folding screen is mainly divided into horizontal outward folding, horizontal inward folding and vertical inward folding. According to incomplete statistics, in the past five years, more than 30 folding screens have been sold in the Chinese market, and the frequency of product releases is still accelerating significantly.
So, the question is, what is Huawei's position among the mainstream terminal manufacturers in the field of folding screen mobile phones? As you may have guessed, Huawei is one of the earliest manufacturers to enter the market, with the most abundant product forms and the highest sales volume. Compared with domestic terminal manufacturers pouring into the folding screen market around 2022, Huawei took the lead in releasing products as early as 2019, opening the "first year of folding". Up to now, with the addition of the small folding Huawei Pocket 2 just released, Huawei has released a total of 9 folding screen mobile phones such as Huawei Mate X5 and Mate XS 2, becoming the only mobile phone manufacturer on the market with three folding forms.
According to iResearch's "Insight Report", China's folding screen mobile phone market will ship more than 6 million units in 2023, of which Huawei is still leading and has occupied the first place in the market for four consecutive years. And the reason behind it, I think this is inseparable from Huawei's advanced layout, strong investment, and high-end brand potential.
In addition, I found that Huawei's performance in the ultra-high-end folding screen market is also very impressive, and its share has exceeded 65%. Among the top 5 models sold in the domestic folding screen mobile phone market in 2023, Huawei occupies the top three seats. At the same time, Huawei Mate X5 is also the only folding screen mobile phone that has achieved a milestone of more than one million units shipped, and it is also out of the circle to steal the spotlight with its strength in this year's Spring Festival Gala.
The four highlights broke through, and the small folding once again ushered in a breaking moment
Huawei's ability to continue to lead in the field of folding screen mobile phones is inseparable from its continuous breakthroughs in technological innovation, such as Kunlun Glass leading and reliable, Huawei Mate X3 breaking through the weight of straight board computers, and Huawei Mate X5 opening the era of thin and light all-round folding screens.
Among the three folding screen mobile phone forms we just mentioned, the small fold that folds vertically inward is deeply loved by young women in first-tier cities because of its strong sense of fashion, small and portable, and high added value. In the small folding market segment, Huawei is the earliest to enter the market, has the strongest market strength, and has the strongest product capabilities, which has become the preferred choice for many consumers to buy small folding. Therefore, the Huawei Pocket 2 released this time has attracted a lot of attention. A few days ago, as soon as the new product was officially announced, Weibo netizens said, "Small folding must be very fashionable", "Sit and wait for Huawei's small folding", "Huawei quietly does big things", it can be seen that netizens have full expectations for Huawei Pocket 2. What new experiences will the Huawei Pocket 2 bring? Let's take stock.
Highlight 1: Ningguang mother-of-pearl interprets Tahitian gray, and pearl double rings combine 3D space aesthetics
For small folds, appearance is justice! HUAWEI Pocket 2 draws aesthetic inspiration from Tahitian pearls, through its unique condensation mother-of-pearl process, and superimposed a unique optical coating, reproducing the natural texture of Tahitian black lipped oysters on the body of the phone, bringing users a mysterious and cool Tahitian gray color scheme. What's more, Huawei's designers also made the lens module and the outer screen into a symmetrical pearl double ring, and polished the curved surface at the junction of the double ring and the fuselage, making it appear as round and soft as a pearl.
It is worth mentioning that Huawei teamed up with Iris van Herpen this time, through a breakthrough arrangement of 680,000 optical lenses, with a thickness of only 0On the 14mm diaphragm, after 87 delicate and complex processes, it brings users a beautiful and visually impactful 3D dynamic space technology, although it is a static line, but you can feel the beauty of flow.
Highlight 2: The full-focal length photography artifact in your pocket takes you to explore the new boundaries of imaging
Do you know? Huawei Pocket 2 is the world's first small folding flagship equipped with a full-range XMAGE quad camera, with a 50 million super-perceptual main camera and F16 large apertures, not only has the largest amount of light in the field of small folding, but also has the first 3x optical telephoto in the field of small folding, from the vast scenery to close-up portraits, to the bright night and dynamic moments, just like carrying a professional photographer, click, the blockbuster is presented immediately. What's more, the Huawei Pocket 2 also supports a hover shooting mode, which makes it easy to pose for photos without the help of others.
On the ** that female users are most concerned about, Huawei Pocket 2 is equipped with a new super perception main camera and its own XD Fusion Pro black technology, which not only makes your **clearer**, but also can say goodbye to excessive beauty, fully restore the **real texture**, and bring you a more realistic**beauty.
The most amazing thing is that Huawei Pocket 2 also hides an exclusive sunscreen cheats - the second-generation hyperspectral camera and the first hyperspectral AI fusion algorithm in the mobile phone industry, which can not only accurately measure the intensity of ultraviolet rays, but also check whether sunspots and sunscreen are applied in place, which is really the guardian of portable skin.
Highlight 3: Create a new folding experience, which is unbelievably smooth and unprecedentedly reliable
The crease and reliability of the folding screen are also the points that consumers pay more attention to. HUAWEI Pocket 2 is the industry's first basalt waterdrop hinge technology, and the flatness is greatly improved compared with the previous generation, so that the crease is almost **, and the phone is more stable after unfolding.
Speaking of reliability, Huawei Pocket 2 also adopts the industry's unique floating screen design, and introduces a new material super strong rocket steel into the hinge, which greatly improves the impact resistance and wear resistance of the mobile phone, and Huawei Pocket 2 also supports 2 meters IPX8 level water resistance, and the reliability experience is very comprehensive.
Highlight 4: Lingxi communication has been upgraded again, and the unique innovative technology makes the signal so strong that it can accompany you
Do you still remember Lingxi Communication, which was previously on the list of the six major mobile phone black technologies in 2023? Huawei Pocket 2 not only uses the same Lingxi communication technology solution, but also brings the sunflower electromagnetic field superposition technology for the first time. It can be understood in this way that this mobile phone already has the communication ability that exceeds that of most mobile phones under normal conditions, and when you fold and hover the mobile phone, you can also superimpose a buff on the signal to fully ensure smooth communication.
Moreover, Huawei Pocket 2 is also the first artifact in the small folding industry to support two-way Beidou satellite messages, even if there is no signal in the wilderness, you can keep in touch with the outside world, and follow the signal wherever you go, giving you safer protection.
The author's observation: How did the leader in the field of folding screen become a leader?
After the development of folding screen mobile phones in the past few years, the performance of screen, communication, software functions and other functions has reached a new height, and the products have begun to develop in the direction of all-round flagships. With the technological progress and decline of folding screen mobile phones, I believe that more and more consumers will be willing to choose folding screen mobile phones as their next mobile phones.
Judging from the product information and market response of Huawei Pocket 2, it is not only a milestone for Huawei's folding screen mobile phone, but also a great leap forward in the folding screen mobile phone industry.
You must know that the right to speak in the folding screen industry has always been dominated by Huawei, and the first small folding flagship, light and thin revolution, and ecological adaptation are all proposed by Huawei. On the one hand, Huawei's awe of industry innovation is inseparable from Huawei's awe of industry innovation, not to be a technology stitching monster, but to truly think about the needs of users and the development trend of the industry as a long-term activist, and secondly, to have the courage to invest in long-term and deep investment, not hesitating to invest in technological innovation, and not blindly following the trend of industry hotspots, which has also given the industry a lot of inspiration.
Specifically,One isWith early investment and continuous R&D, Huawei has made many steps faster in the field of folding screen mobile phones. Because this kind of long-term investment can bring a chain reaction, one step ahead, and then step by step, and continue to bring dazzling new folding screen products to the market.
The second isTechnological innovation and patent accumulation: Huawei has many innovations and patents in folding screen technology, such as hinges, screens, and materials, which have greatly improved the screen flatness and service life of folding screen phones. At the same time, Huawei also holds patents in key technology areas such as folding displays, hinge structures, and display control, establishing its leading position in the industry.
The third isExperience optimization and ecological construction. Huawei is the first mobile phone manufacturer to propose and attach importance to the folding ecosystem, in Huawei's view, pure hardware innovation brings users limited experience improvement, and only the innovation of software and hardware can truly open up the future of the folding screen category.
It is precisely for this reason that in the minds of consumers, the folding screen field is only divided into Huawei and others!
Facing the future, I expect that with the help of products such as Huawei Pocket 2, Huawei's folding screen will further consolidate its market dominance and further improve its position in the small folding industry.
Because of Huawei's sea of stars, the sword refers to the thinker and leader of the development direction of the folding screen mobile phone industry. Positioning determines status, vision determines the realm, and the future of Huawei's folding screen can be expected.