The flip cellphone taking part in area is ready to get extra crowded.
Huawei is tipped to launch an entry-level flip cellphone throughout the first half of subsequent 12 months, in response to a Thursday publish by a tipster Revegnus on X. The clamshell-style cellphone might begin for as little as $735, the leaker says, and is anticipated to be a part of Huawei’s P Pocket lineup.
Final 12 months, Huawei launched the Pocket S, its first entry-level flip cellphone and a scaled-down model of P50 Pocket. It shares the identical design language as its pricier sibling, specifically a standout function of two giant circles on the quilt panel. One circle serves because the digicam bump, whereas the opposite is a 1.04-inch spherical cowl display. Each telephones had been launched in China solely.
Though flip telephones and their book-style counterparts are more and more receiving industrial releases by main phone-makers, foldable telephones nonetheless make up a small sliver of the broader smartphone market. Nonetheless, business analysis corporations count on the foldable cellphone pie to develop. IDC experiences that it expects worldwide shipments of foldable telephones to succeed in 21.4 million items in 2023. This represents a rise of greater than 50% over the 14.2 million items shipped in 2022. By 2027, it says, foldable telephones ought to seize 3.5% of general market share, which interprets to greater than 48 million shipments.
Huawei’s Pocket P50 first got here out in 2022.
In accordance with Revegnus, Samsung appears to be engaged on an analogous cellphone. In August the tipster tweeted that, “rumors of ongoing testing for the launch of the Galaxy Z FE (lite mannequin), after the Fold/Flip 6.”
Samsung’s Fan Version, or FE, collection represents a scaled-down model of its essential flagship lineup. Earlier in October, Samsung revealed its $600 Samsung Galaxy S23 FE. This cellphone consists of lots of the identical options because the $800 Galaxy S23, however makes just a few compromises to hit the lower cost.
Given the tipped launch timelines, the Huawei’s new flip cellphone may very well be launched alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6, that are anticipated to obtain a launch in August subsequent 12 months.