The upcoming foldable handset will feature a technological breakthrough, fully benchmarked against Huawei and Samsung
Chinese smartphone vendor Vivo’s new model known as X Fold is expected to hit the market in early April, according to media reports.
The device, known as “Butterfly” inside the company, will feature a Vivo X70 Pro+ rectangular quad-camera setup, a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, and dual high refresh rate LTPO displays, Jiemian, a business media outlet, reported on March 7.
This will make Vivo the fifth Chinese smartphone maker to launch a foldable handset, after Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo and Royale.
Since the second half of last year, the release of new products from many leading manufacturers such as Honor Magic V and OPPO Find N has propelled the popularity of phones with foldable screens to a new height.
According to Vivo employees with knowledge of the matter, the foldable phone will possess a major breakthrough in hinge, a core component, resulting in a product performance that can be benchmarked against Huawei and Samsung.
Data from IDC, a global market research firm, shows that the size of the Chinese market for products with folding screens was about 1.5 million units in 2021.
With the maturity of supply chains such as flexible screens, hinges, and UTG glass protective covers, many market watchers have estimated that global foldable phone shipments will double year on year to more than 15 million units in 2022.
IDC data shows that in 2021 the Chinese smartphone market shipped about 329 million units. Vivo took a 21.5% market share, up 23.3% from the same period a year earlier, ranking first.
Among them, Vivo's X series and the sub-brand iQOO achieved significant growth in 2021, helping Vivo gain greater advantages in the mid-to-high-end market and the online market.
Vivo’s competitors in China include Apple, Huawei, Xiaomi, Honor, Oppo, OnePlus and Realme.