Folding smartphones made of three elements have not yet reached the stage of mass production by well-known players. Huawei plans to become a pioneer in this market by releasing the world’s first phone with three displays. However, it is unlikely to be a mass gadget, as its price may exceed $4000. Thus, the device may be twice as expensive as the Samsung Galaxy Fold6, but it will have less performance.
Recently, Huawei Consumer Business Group CEO Richard Yu was spotted holding a smartphone in his hands that consisted of two three-part parts. So, this indicates the existence of such a device, and the executive is probably testing it to see how it works in real conditions. Perhaps the device in his hands was pre-production, as there is no information about the start of mass production of such a device. At the same time, insider @jasonwill101 said on social network X that the company is still trying to reduce the cost of the smartphone, with an engineering sample costing 35,000 yuan, or $4887.
Currently, the cost of Huawei's tri-fold engineering prototype is over 35,000 RMB, and the company is continuously working on reducing costs. The anticipated retail price for the mass-produced model is set at 29,000 RMB($4000) pic.twitter.com/2JBvtx9IIN
— jasonwill (@jasonwill101) August 13, 2024
This is a huge amount for a smartphone, even if it offers a unique form factor. Rumors claim that the expected retail price may be lowered to 29,000 yuan, or $4049, making it more than twice as expensive as the Samsung Galaxy Fold6. The high price may be due to a smaller print run, although the rumors do not confirm this. Given that Huawei cannot order processor production using TSMC’s advanced technology and has to rely on its local manufacturing partner SMIC, it is left to reuse old-generation lithography to mass-produce its chipsets.
At the moment, the Kirin 9010 chip seems to be the only possible option for use in such a smartphone. However, it is much slower than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and Dimensity 9300 in competing devices.
Source: wccftech
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