Foldables Have Miles To Go

When the novelty wears off, tech giants could be struggling to justify the utility and astronomical pricing of folding phones.

- Nidhi Singal

Smartphones have become exciting again. At least the folding ones, ever since Samsung and Huawei unveiled their latest creations, giving rise to speculation that a folding iPhone is bound to happen by 2020. Motorola is gearing up to launch its device and Xiaomi has posted a futuristic, double-folding prototype on a social media site. A new patent that has surfaced online suggests Google may come out with a phone similar to Motorola Razr 2019.

We are not yet sure what specific purpose these ‘luxury’ phones are going to serve (Galaxy Fold starts at $1,980 for the 4G version while Huawei Mate X will cost $2,600, undoubtedly premium pricing), but one can understand why the buzz around foldable phones is not going to fizzle out. Here is a path-breaking innovation, a never-before change in form factor, which could redefine the hardware, software and user experience (UX) much like Apple did in 2007 when the first iPhone hit the market. We have seen plenty of incremental changes over the past decade – big screens, transparent panels, multiple-camera set-ups, reverse wireless charging and in-display fingerprint sensors. But none of these turned out to be the next big thing in the smartphone space.

Will Form Factors Fascinate?

The first iPhone featured a 3.5-inch display and we are now quite familiar with 6-inch plus screens. Foldable phones are yet another step towards a much bigger screen estate – a convenient combo of phone, tablet and camera – in a compact form. The aim is to enhance UX by facilitating better content consumption and creation across e-mail, web browser, e-books, video streaming, gaming and more.