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BARCELONA – I spent most of the week at the World Mobile Congress about what would happen to 5G. But faster networks, no matter how big, still can not compete with the promise of a good gadget, especially with technology enthusiasts looking for the next big device.
Thus, even as technical managers predicted the future of the 5G to all who listened to it, the crowd swarmed into Hall 3 of the Fira Gran Via exhibition grounds for a glimpse of the future. more tangible of the future: foldable phones.
The scene was reminiscent of the Louvre, where a steady stream of tourists collided with Mona Lisa, covered in glass, moving away from the masterpiece with the cameras on their smartphones. In Barcelona, the flagship attractions, the Galaxy Fold of
Samsung Electronics
(symbol: 005930. South Korea) and Huawei Technologies' Mate X, were also banned.
Samsung and Huawei view these devices as the most important change in the wireless industry since the very first smartphones. While the latest generations of phones have struggled for progressive changes, such as better cameras and faster processors, the foldable phone is designed to keep the phone's physical form as important as the most popular applications and software. Recent.
The promise of 5G pushes phone manufacturers to finally rethink the form factor of ten-year-old smartphones,
Qualcomm
(QCOM) President Cristiano Amon said Barron's during a briefing on the show, not far from foldable phone shows.
"With every technology transition, from 3G to 4G until today, the network was ready, but not the devices," said Amon. "This time, the devices are ahead of the network. It's not that the form factor of foldable objects is for the show; what the 5G brings in streaming, gaming and work productivity requires a larger screen and allows a phone to function as a laptop.
"The shape of the phone meets the function of the 5G," he added.
Ericsson
(ERIC) Carl Mellander, CFO, touched on a similar theme. As the telecommunication infrastructure evolves for 5G, the same goes for devices, folding or not. "We have entered an innovation window for smartphones," he said.
Even retailers are becoming optimistic about the future foldable. "We are also pleased to see foldable phones emerge in the coming months,"
Best buy
(BBY) CEO Hubert Joly told investors during the company's earnings call this week.
After my stay in Barcelona, here is how I would handicap the current folding race.
The first leaders
Samsung took a leap forward at the big conference by presenting the Galaxy Fold in San Francisco a week before the Mobile World Congress. The Fold starts with a 4.6-inch screen that turns into a 7.3-inch tablet. It is essentially an iPhone 8 that turns into iPad Mini. The technology was applauded, but the price of $ 1,980 was not.
The Fold is due to be launched in the United States on April 26, but no one has tried the device in Barcelona. A representative said the company is currently focusing on its latest range of traditional smartphones, the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10 +, which will be in stores on March 8.
Samsung said it has spent years designing its foldable entrance. A new plastic screen and a new hinge allow the screen to fold back on itself. Samsung considers that this system is "built to last." Its price may make some consumers pale, but Samsung anticipates a wave of first-time adopters.
"Innovation excites people and consumers have never been as informed of what they want in technology," said Justin Denison, senior vice president of mobile product marketing. at Samsung.
Huawei's $ 2,600 foldable phone features front and rear screens – 6.6 inches and 6.3 inches – that fold out into an 8-inch tablet. The bright screen impressed during a close demo, but Huawei did not let us get their hands on it.
For months, Huawei senior executive Richard Yu said the company could become the world's largest smartphone maker by 2020. (Huawei is currently No. 3, but is eating away at Samsung and
Apple
S
(AAPL) market leader.
Many flexible phones are expected over the next year, with
Xiaomi
(1810.Hong Kong),
Lenovo Group
(0992.Hong Kong), Oppo Electronics, and
Motorola Solutions
(MSI) among companies likely to work on new designs.
The Wild Card
Apple, which regularly redefines an established market, was granted a patent for a folding device in 2014, and its entry seems inevitable now that Samsung and Huawei have taken initiatives.
Do not overlook the appeal of Apple design. Back in early 2007, when Apple redefined the smartphone market with the iPhone. Although Steve Jobs advocated what the device could do, he told me during a personal demonstration and an interview after the event that the separate form of the telescope was also a sales pitch.
It's no secret that the global smartphone market is buzzing. Unit shipments were stable, at 408 million in December, as large models are simply not sold, according to Gartner. The lack of innovation does not help.
Phone makers can now finally recognize that they have been carried away by lighter and thinner phones at the expense of ease of use and innovation. Are consumers ready to take a slightly heavier foldable phone in exchange for a tablet-type screen? We will know it soon. For now, however, Samsung has not yet disclosed the weight of its Galaxy Fold.
As Andre Fuetsch, director of technology at
AT & T
(T), said: "Who knows? We will see perhaps a return of the phone case. "
Write to Jon Swartz at [email protected]
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