When it comes to foldable phones, Samsung enjoys a fair lead over its peers. The South Korean company has made its plans clear to promote foldables by skipping the Note series this year. However, the Chinese brands do not want to be left behind and it is being reported that multiple foldable phones may be launched by Q3 this year.
According to a report in DigiTimes, industry insiders suggest that three of the top Chinese smartphone brands that include - Xiaomi, OPPO, and Vivo are planning to launch new foldable phones in the next quarter, taking on their South Korean rival.
Leading the pack is Xiaomi that, after teasing Mi Mix Alpha, has already launched its first foldable Mi Mix Fold in China. The Mi Mix Fold comes with flagship specifications like 8.01-inch 1860 x 2480 foldable OLED panel, Snapdragon 888 chipset, up to 16GB of RAM and more hence is priced at a premium.
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The Mi Mix Fold is available at a starting price of CNY 9,999, however, the next foldable phone from Xiaomi is reportedly going to be on a slightly more affordable side. This phone is expected to be launched in the second half of this year.
Though currently, we do not have concrete information about this device, however, we have already reported that Xiaomi had filed several patents for foldable phones and this new device could be one of them.
Oppo on the other hand had showcased its unique phone - Oppo X 2021. While this is technically a rollable phone and not a foldable phone, however, the report suggests that Oppo is planning to make this phone available commercially.
An earlier report also points at a foldable phone from Oppo slated to launch in the second quarter of this year. The tipster suggested that this phone is “much more interesting” than the concept foldable phone that Oppo showcased late last year.
Talking about Vivo’s foldable phone, since there is hardly any information available as of now, hence we will have to wait for some more time. In a related piece of news, even Google is reportedly working on a foldable phone. Rumours suggest Xiaomi, Oppo and Google are likely to use Samsung’s foldable display panels.
While we normally suggest our readers take these leaks and reports with a pinch of salt. However, multiple reports originating from different sources but pointing in the same direction makes us believe that by the end of the year, we may have many foldable devices in the market.
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