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Feb.14 (NBD) -- South Korean smartphone maker Samsung released a trailer themed "The Future Unfolds" on Twitter Monday, saying it will launch a new foldable smartphone on February 20.

It is heard that Samsung has its own panel production line and has been developing foldable smartphones for years.

But the timing of Samsung's new smartphone is tricky as it comes four days earlier than the release date of Huawei's 5G-powered foldable smartphone. Some people think it makes sense as smartphone vendors are racing to be the first one to release such a smartphone.

A foldable smartphone has an electronic visual display which is flexible in nature. In recent years, there has been a growing interest from smartphone manufacturers in applying the technology.

In addition to Samsung and Huawei, other players are also eyeing the niche market.

Nubia, a sub-brand of ZTE, released Monday a poster on Weibo, implying it will launch its foldable product at MWC19 in Barcelona. OPPO also told NBD in an earlier interview that it will be clear whether they are developing foldable smartphones till the congress.

At 2019 CES in early January, Lenovo chairman disclosed that the company will unveil its foldable smartphone this year. In the same month, Xiaomi chairman Lin Bing showcased its first double folding smartphone on his Weibo account.

Wu Shuyuan, a senior industry analyst of consulting firm Sigmaintell said to NBD that the foldable smartphone craze was attributed to several reasons. First, the smartphone screen has evolved from 16:9 display, full display to hole-punch display and there are less display-related features that interest consumers. 5G and foldable smartphone happen to fill the void.

Secondly, smartphone vendors have to secure supporting resources at an earlier date, such as panels, as the supply of panels fell short of demand. If they don't make a head start, there may not have enough supporting resources.

In addition, the demand for smartphones is waning. The shipment of smartphones in the domestic market totaled 397 million units in 2018, down 10 percent year on year, according to the latest smartphone report released by market intelligence firm IDC. Therefore, it's urgent for smartphone makers to seek new impetus to prompt consumers to change phones. 

Sigmaintell predicted that at least about 900,000 units of foldable smart devices will be sold in 2019 and 1.85 million in 2020. But it will remain as a segment market as it is constrained by supply chain, costs and yield rate, said Wu.

The price of foldable smartphones is expected to range from 15,000 yuan (2,214.2 U.S. dollars) to 20,000 yuan (2,952.3 U.S. dollars) at the early stage. It will be out of reach for ordinary people as it is more expensive than 5G smartphones, Wu added.

Fan Boyu, analyst of panel data provider WitsView, part of research firm TrendForce, told NBD in an interview that foldable smartphones will only take up 0.1 percent of the smartphone market, and the number is expected to increase to 1.5 percent by 2021.

Globally, only three companies, namely Samsung, LGD and BOE, are able to mass produce flexible AMOLED.

According to international consulting firm IHS Markit, China's production capacity of panels is expected to be around 40 percent by 2023. However, the yield rate, performance and costs of AMOLED have to be improved.

Ha Jiqing, senior analyst of All View Cloud, said told NBD foldable smartphone is a new exploration of the market. Whether it will become a trend depends on how well it is received by consumers.

To make it a mass application, smartphone makers have to improve user experience and production capacity, Wu noted.

Email: tanyuhan@nbd.com.cn