Chinese smartphone giant Huawei is set to imminently unveil a new foldable smartphone in the South African market, ITWeb has learnt.
In an exclusive interview with ITWeb on Friday, Akhram Mohamed, vice-president of operations at Huawei Consumer Business Group South Africa, said the company will be rolling out a foldable smartphone to the local market in a “few days’ time”.
The revelation comes after Huawei’s rival Samsung last week announced the availability of its latest foldable smartphones – the Galaxy Z Flip4 and Galaxy Z Fold4 devices.
As the foldable smartphone race hots up, last week Xiaomi also released its Mix Fold 2 device.
Huawei’s first foldable smartphone to launch in SA is the P50 Pocket, which was announced in March.
“In South Africa, we have launched the first foldable phone − the P50 Pocket, which was the flip version. That has been incredible from a fashion statement point of view but also to show our capability in the foldable space,” Mohamed said in a video interview.
August is a busy month for the Chinese brand in regards to product launches. Its wearables launch will take place right after the company introduces its latest smartphone and laptops on 18 August. Huawei will unveil its latest smartwatches on 25 August.
ITWeb expects the foldable smartphone to be launched on 25 August.
“We really do believe the foldable form factor is going to be the next avenue of innovation in the industry as a whole, especially as you find the pricing coming down over time and as it becomes easier and cheaper to manufacture these devices,” said Mohamed.
“I know one of our competitors [Samsung] just released two foldable phones a few days ago and we will also be introducing something to the South African consumers in the next couple of days.”
Without giving much away, he added: “In a few days’ time, we will be announcing something to the South African market and it’s going to be incredible.”
Asked about the latest foldable devices Huawei has on offer, Mohamed pointed to the Mate Xs 2 smartphone, which was unboxed globally on 22 April.
“This is a true fold device that opens into a tablet. But apart from it just opening into a tablet – because that’s the whole case about a foldable, to get a larger screen real estate for media consumption – it should not be compromised when the phone is closed.
“You still need a full smartphone experience and this is the logic that we are taking; that it needs to be compact while still having great screen real estate, and you can use it as a traditional smartphone while you still have all of the functionality. However, the software is optimised when you open it up into a tablet and you can become more productive. But it must be light, it must be slim and it must be compact. All the applications must also be optimised to the form factor and to the fold experience.
“So this is something that we put a lot of focus on and not just launching a foldable into the market but rather making it something that is really functional,” said Mohamed.
On pricing, he said: “It will be on par with other foldables that are on the market. So pricing will be announced when we launch.”
Pre-orders for Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip4 and Galaxy Z Fold4 devices in South Africa started last week, with the devices retailing at R21 999 and R37 999, respectively.
According to Counterpoint Research’s latest foldable smartphone forecast published last week, the global foldable smartphone market will grow 73% this year from nine million units last year, to 16 million units.
It notes the strong growth defies current economic headwinds, as the premium market shows resilience and steady demand.
Counterpoint forecasts strong growth through next year too, with foldables expected to grow to 26 million units in 2023.
The market research firm says during H1 2022, Samsung enjoyed dominant market share of foldables, accounting for 62% of the market by June. It adds that Huawei (16%) and Oppo (3%) came in a distant second and third. Other smartphone makers have an 18% market share.
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