On August 29th, the flexible screen (foldable screen) sector led the gains. As of the time of publication, Zhidongli and Changxin Technology both hit the 20% daily limit, while Kunshan Kersen Science & Technology and Jiangsu Rijiu Optoelectronics Jointstock hit the daily limit with one character. Lingyi Itech, BOE Technology Group, TCL Corporation, Huagong Tech, and OFilm Group Co., Ltd followed suit.

There is constant big news in the industry.

It is reported that the folding screen is a branch of the flexible screen, with the characteristics of being bendable and foldable. It is widely used in various industries such as consumer electronics, autos, medical, and aviation.

In the field of consumer electronics, foldable screen technology is mainly used in smartphones and tablets, offering not only a thin and portable design but also a larger screen, providing consumers with a rich visual experience.

With the participation and innovation of domestic and foreign manufacturers such as Xiaomi, Huawei, Vivo, Honor, and Samsung, foldable screen technology continues to develop and improve.

Currently, the mainstream forms of foldable screen phones on the market are mainly horizontal folding and vertical folding. The former is similar to opening a book, while the latter is similar to opening a shell.

The challenge for triple-foldable smartphones is to balance the overall thickness and battery life, which is more challenging than dual-foldable smartphones. It is also the point of innovation that current phone manufacturers are trying to break through.

On August 19th, Yu Chengdong, the executive director of Huawei, revealed at the delivery ceremony of the Enjoy S9 that Huawei will officially release its first triple-foldable smartphone in September this year. Earlier this month, a picture of him holding a triple-foldable smartphone went viral on social media.

According to the previous leak from a tech blogger, the device will adopt an inward folding plus outward folding double hinge design, with a screen size of around 10 inches. The phone will be equipped with the HarmonyOS NEXT system and is expected to achieve HarmonyOS PC-level applications.

In terms of price, there are reports that due to the use of a large number of new technologies and high-quality materials, the cost of this model will be very high, estimated to be between 1.5 to 2 million yuan.

Yesterday, another company known as the 'King of African Phones,' Tecno, officially released its triple-foldable concept phone, the Tecno Phantom Ultimate 2. This phone also adopts a dual hinge design, enabling both inward and outward folding. When folded, the screen size is 6.48 inches. When unfolded, the screen size is 10 inches, with a thickness of only 11 millimeters.

However, this phone is still in the concept stage and has not yet been mass-produced and launched. But the market is already very much looking forward to it.

Institutions: The overall penetration rate of foldable screen phones is expected to grow rapidly.

With continuous technological innovation breakthroughs and further improvement in market awareness and acceptance, foldable screen phones are opening up new horizons and gradually becoming a new blue ocean in the smart phone market.

IDC data shows that in the second quarter of this year, the Chinese foldable screen phone market maintained a high-speed growth of 105%, with shipments exceeding 2.5 million units. In addition, the global shipment of foldable smart phones increased by 85% year-on-year, further proving the strong market demand for foldable screen phones.

In addition, CINNO Research data shows that in the first half of 2024, the cumulative sales volume of foldable screen phones in the Chinese market reached 4.98 million units, a year-on-year increase of 121%, with a penetration rate of 3.6%, which is 1.8 percentage points higher than the 1.7% penetration rate in the same period last year. The market share in the high-end market above 5,000 yuan reached 13%, compared to only 2% in 2020.

Looking ahead, with the gradual overcoming of technological challenges, production costs decreasing, and stimulated consumer demand, the market share of foldable screen devices is expected to continue to grow.

Debon Securities stated that mainstream smart phone manufacturers have basically completed the layout and iteration of foldable screen product lines, and the foldable screen phone industry is gradually entering a period of stable growth. In the future, the deep integration of AI large models with foldable screen phones, coupled with further price reductions to stimulate replacement intentions, is expected to lead to a rapid increase in the overall penetration rate of foldable screen phones.

Everbright Securities believes that as the core technological pain points of foldable screens are gradually resolved and market acceptance continues to increase, the pace of new product launches will further accelerate. Among them, the three-fold phone may become a new trend in the form of foldable phones. The overall penetration rate of foldable screens is also expected to quickly reach 10% in the smart phone sector.

Huafu Securities believes that three-fold devices will enhance the adaptability of most application scenarios on foldable devices, thereby converting more traditional phone and pad users, further opening up the ceiling of the foldable device market. Companies deeply involved in foldable device materials and components are expected to fully benefit from the development of three-fold devices.