The dawn of 2020 saw a new era of foldable smartphones that hit the market. As soon as Samsung announced its Galaxy Flip & Fold, the market breaking legend Moto Razr, made a comeback with its 2020 version. Both of these phones were standard AMOLED display foldable phones, positioned at the high-end market price range.
The market was in awe initially but the trade-offs with respect to the existing product in the market were more functional than aesthetic design. The modern Flip & Fold phones struggled to compete with battery capacity, camera quality, pixel depth and overall device performance. Apart from these functional inadequacies, there were issues concerning the screen and its durability.
To address these inadequacies and deliver value, Samsung released Galaxy Fold 2 to match the trade-offs. This made it the most expensive noncustomized phone in the market. But the bigger question we need to ask is, whether the product may face challenges to capitalize its segment.
Soon, foldable smartphones would see a sharp decline in demand as the rollable phones hit the market. The primary reason why rollable phones would succeed in the market would be purely due to User Experience and Product Design.
Oppo's X 2021 has announced the first rollable phone in the world, expecting a release by early 2021. Even though X 2021 comes in the high-end segment, it has done justice to address the trade-off within the price range concerning the competition. The following are the attributes that would make it the segment leader.
Much lighter and portable design
Best price positioning in the segment
Better battery and charging capacity
Higher Camera and Screen quality
Better overall functional performance
Above all the mentioned attributes, the X 2021 form factor's relativity to the existing smartphones in the market, makes it easier for consumers to consider a product purchase scale up over a new flip/fold form factors as they may have durability concerns.
Rollable screens are indeed a disruptive innovation in the market as it offsets all the flip/fold trade-offs of the consumers.
