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Huawei has announced a September 10 event where the Chinese company plans to unveil the world's first tri-folding smartphone, with the timing of the event an apparently deliberate attempt to upstage Apple's upcoming iPhone 16 reveal.

huawei-trifold-event.jpg
Huawei teaser showing tri-fold shape

Huawei hasn't yet officially shown off the pocketable phone, which reportedly has a 10-inch display when completely unfolded, but the company has shared a teaser on Weibo that depicts a device with three folding sides in a sort of reverse Z-shape, leaving little to the imagination about what's headlining the event.

Concepts of a three-fold device have not been in short supply over the years, but Huawei clearly thinks it can bring one to market, although DSCC analyst Ross Young has suggested that it will be the most expensive smartphone yet. The company's consumer and automotive technology executive Richard Yu called it an "epoch-making product."

The Huawei event is scheduled for September 10 at 2:30 p.m. China Standard Time. That translates to 11.30 p.m. Pacific Time on September 9, so the same day of Apple's "It's Glowtime" event for observers on the US West Coast. Apart from the foldable, new smartwatches and an electric car are also expected to be announced by Huawei on stage.

Huawei's recent resurgence has significantly challenged Apple's position in the Chinese smartphone market. According to research firm Canalys, Apple's standing in China has notably declined, with the company falling out of the top five smartphone vendors by market share in the second quarter of 2023.

In stark contrast, Huawei has experienced a remarkable upswing during the same period. The company saw its smartphone shipments in China surge by 41% compared to the same quarter last year, marking the fastest growth rate among the top five brands in the country.
Apple is unlikely to release a foldable iPhone before 2027, according to Taiwanese research firm TrendForce. Apple is widely expected to release a large-screen foldable iPad or MacBook to kick-off its foray into the product category‌.

Article Link: Huawei Aims to Upstage Sep 9 Apple Event With Tri-Fold Phone Debut
 
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Apple is really missing the boat with foldables just like they missed the boat with AI. The current leadership has no vision. Vision Pro is a dead-end.

There's a lot to unpack here...

1. what boat did Apple miss in AI exactly? Where's the uncrossable moat? It seems to me AI is quickly on its way to becoming a commodity with little in the way of differentiation. If anything, I'd say AI is an unmissable boat ;)

2. sure, the form factor of foldable phones is intriguing, but they just aren't selling in significant numbers so far, mainly because:
a) the screens aren't nearly as good as their non-foldable counterparts and
b) the phones cost a lot.
What exactly is Apple missing here if they don't feel the technology is ready for prime time?

3. Whether Vision Pro becomes a success or not, I can't tell you. But I can tell is that spatial computing will absolutely become a thing and Apple is wise to play the long game.
 
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We all know how the folding bicycle replaced the antique non-folding models. And that flying cars replaced old cars.

Now we have the folding tricycle! Huge win, the press will go nuts. "Our new phones aren't so good. Let's add folding and $1000 to the price tag".
 
Apple is really missing the boat with foldables just like they missed the boat with AI. The current leadership has no vision. Vision Pro is a dead-end.
You clearly haven't owned a folding phone, have you?? The internal screen is so delicate that a fingernail can cause permanent damage, and until they make the crease completely invisible you can keep living in your dreamland.
 
Most of these so-called tri-fold phones are actually bi-folds. It only takes two movements to unfold or fold them completely. I personally do not want a foldable that unfolds into anything larger than an 8" display, give or take a few millimeters. I'm not a fan of the larger iPads.
 
Apple is really missing the boat with foldables just like they missed the boat with AI. The current leadership has no vision. Vision Pro is a dead-end.

Can't innovate MY AERS!

Apple will introduce a folding phone 10 years from now. It'll be called the iOrigami. It will mark the return of touch ID and the elimination of dynamic island.

The screen refresh rate will still be 60Hz. The big news will be the Apple Watch "Foldra", a portmanteau of Ultra and fold. It'll have an amazing 5 day battery life and both will run the latest version of Android OS via something called "poop camp". The watch will fold out into a 5" diagonal screen. It still won't' measure your pulse ox though due to a patent dispute.

All of this will work on the amazing new 6G network from Verizon Wireless that will only be available in 3 special spots in your local downtown, but only if you hold the antenna "right". However, VZW's coverage map will show you have full coverage in your entire metro area and that spot in the mountains where bears mate twice a year.
 
You clearly haven't owned a folding phone, have you?? The internal screen is so delicate that a fingernail can cause permanent damage, and until they make the crease completely invisible you can keep living in your dreamland.
Which folding phones have you owned? I've owned the Z Fold 3, 4, 5, 6, the Z Flip 4, the Pixel Fold, and the OnePlus Open...with my Pixel 9 Pro Fold and Honor Magic V3 Global arriving tomorrow. I've never had an issue with the inner or outer display on any of the foldables I've owned and I don't even put a case on them. Also, the crease is as close to invisible on phones like the OnePlus Open and Honor Magic V3 as physics will allow at this point. It's really not a crease on these phones, because if you took the display off there would be no bend in the display. There is a very slight valley, I guess I would call it, running up the middle of the display where there is no hardware behind it like there is under the rest of the inner display. There is nothing anyone can do about that at this time. Someday, maybe, but I'm not sure how they can get hardware behind the screen in the middle and still allow it to fold without damage. You'd have to implement a tiny piston system that could push a plate or some other piece of hardware up to prevent the valley. The squeeze wouldn't be worth the juice here in my opinion, because I never notice this valley on my OnePlus Open.
 
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