This is why you might not be able to buy a folding smartphone until 2020
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We are about to enter the second quarter of the year 2019 and even at this early, it’d be safe to declare folding smartphones as the most talked about gadget of the year. Expert advice aside, the only way you can tell whether you need to a folding smartphone or not is only by using it.
Given the price, most people simply can’t afford to buy one and according to sources, this will likely to exist for at least another year. Components such as OLED displays, hinges play a crucial role in folding smartphone, in fact, it’s them due to which the price is so high. OLED displays that fold, and hinges both are scarce and hence the increase in price.
According to the hinge makers, the scarcity of hinges is due to the fact that it is hard to produce at large number with today’s technology. On top of that, smartphones hinges are way much thinner, finer, and stronger than the one that you find on a notebook. This makes the large scale production all the more difficult.
Hinge makers also are of the opinion that mass production of hinges that are suitable for folding smartphone might not turn into reality until 2020 as a result of which they’ll continue to be as pricey as it is today for at least another year.
On the other hand, companies like Xiaomi is rumored to launch a smartphone that cost half of the price of the Galaxy Fold. We’ll see how well Xiaomi implements the hinge and deliver it under $1,000.
