Foldable phone, Chinese company's pursuit intensified ... Samsung Electronics launches Chinese business innovation team

Samsung Electronics pays attention to whether it can overcome "0% share" in Chinese market

Chinese smartphone brand OPPO's first folder bullphone "Find N" = from OPPO's YouTube channel

New foldable phone "Mate V" scheduled to be released by Huawei on the 23rd = from Huawei central

A Chinese mobile phone company that has increased its share of low- and medium-priced smartphones with "Cospa" in the foreground is competing to enter Samsung Electronics' premium lineup "Foldable Smartphone" market. Samsung Electronics, which recently experienced "humiliation" in which the Chinese market share dropped to the 0% level due to the pursuit of another name "VOX" such as VIVO, OPPO, Xiaomi, has recently reported to Han Jung-hee DX division manager and is doing business in China. Established an innovation team. Chinese smartphone brand OPPO unveiled its first folderable phone "Find N" at the "OPPO INNO DAY 2021" event held on the 15th (local time). Like Samsung Electronics' Galaxy Z Fold 3, this product was designed to fold inward like a book. The internal screen is 7.1 inches and the folded size is 5.5 inches. The ratio when folded is 18: 9, which is wider than the "Galaxy Z Fold 3" (25: 9). It is equipped with a Samsung display panel, which is the only producer of foldable OLEDs. OPPO emphasizes that "we have overcome the problem of wrinkles in the center of the screen when folding and opening an existing folder bullphone." Huawei, which is subject to US sanctions, plans to release a new foldable phone "Mate V" on the 23rd of this month. It is the same clamshell type product as the "Galaxy Z Fold 3". Prior to this, Huawei had released the out-folding foldable phone "Mate X" in 2019, which folds the screen outward. Xiaomi, which released its first foldable phone "Mi Mix Fold" in April, is preparing to launch a second-generation product next year. VIVO has also kept pace with this trend and announced that it will soon release a foldable phone. Counterpoint research, a market research institute, released in August, and this year's global foldable phone shipments reached about 9 million units, three times more than last year (more than 3 million units), and in 2023 last year. It is expected to grow about 10 times compared to the above and reach about 30 million units. However, despite the rosy growth prospects of the foldable phone market and the title of "No. 1 global smartphone market share," Samsung Electronics cannot stay safe in the Chinese market. Samsung Electronics' share of the Chinese smartphone market fell to 0.4% in the third quarter of this year, following 0.8% in 2019 and 0.6% last year. Apple's domestic smartphone market share, which focused on the premium market during the same period, rose from 8.3% to 12.6%, and the shares of VIVO and OPPO, which expanded the market centered on medium- and low-priced products, also started in the high 10% range. It went up to the early 20% level. Under these circumstances, Chinese smartphone companies that entered the foldable phone market one step later than Samsung Electronics are confident that they will take the lead in the market at COSPA this time as well. The price of OPPO's "Find N" is 7699 Chinese yuan (256GB standard, 1.44 million won = about 137,000 yen), and the shipping price of "Galaxy Z Fold 3" (1,998,700 won = about 191,000 yen) It is about 50,000 yen cheaper than. This is the reason why Samsung Electronics, which released the third-generation foldable phone this year by lowering the shipping price from the previous model, has to be nervous. Reporter Song Damung (Inquiries japan@hani.co.kr)