Huawei’s Next Gen Phone Is Foldable And 5G Ready With A Hat Tip To Mate 20 X

The next big battle in the smartphone world is shaping up to be which manufacturer is first to market with a smartphone that folds. Samsung was first to start talking about a device with a folding screen and has promised that the folding screen device will launch by the end of 2018. Samsung has said that the big benefit of this folding screen smartphone would be a device with a tablet-like screen in an easily pocketable form factor. The catch is that the price of Samsung's device is expected to be high due to limited screen suppliers.

A person allegedly familiar with Huawei's plans claims it isn’t going to sit back and let Samsung be first to market; that person claims Huawei wants to beat Samsung to market with its folding smartphone. LG has also announced plans to develop a folding screen device. Huawei CEO Richard Yu has given up a few clues about what the Huawei device might feature when it lands. Yu had an interview recently with the media where he talked about the launch of the Huawei Mate 20 range of devices. Details that came from that interview include that the folding device will support 5G networks, the executive specifically stated, "We are working on foldable phones. Foldable 5G phones."

It doesn’t sound as if consumers lusting for a folding smartphone will get Huawei's device anytime soon; Yu stated that the phone wasn't "commercialized yet" and noted that "maybe" sometime the company will launch the folding device, but "not at this time." Yu's "maybe" statement sounds as if Huawei isn’t completely ready for folding devices making the source's claim of Huawei beating Samsung to market questionable. Samsung had promised it would launch its device this year, but with less than a quarter left in the year that seems less and less likely each day; so, there is a chance of Samsung being beat to market yet.

Speculation suggests that the Mate 20 X will be the template for the folding screen smartphone. The 20 X has a giant 7.2-inch screen but is very slim, so it doesn't feel so large in hand. No matter how thin the Mate 20 X is, a 7.2-inch screen packing smartphone will be hard to pocket, and a folding device of that same screen size would be much more manageable. Whoever is first to market, smartphone fans are keen to see what folding screen devices can offer. Yu has claimed in the past that the folding smartphone could replace PCs.