A popular smartphone company delayed the new generation folding screen because of sales as expected
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by triluzy5
OnePlus has recently made a clearer explanation of the reason why the company did not launch the succeeded phone model for OnePlus Open this year. Earlier, in February, the company publicly announced it would adjust the folding phone strategy and let Oppo “play a leading role in this segment”. That statement motivated the page Techradar Conduct a visit to the OnePlus headquarters in Guangdong to learn more deeply.
In the exchange with Techradar, Mr. Rudolf Xu – Marketing Director of OnePlus – said the folding phone market is growing slower than expected. Consolidating data from Counterpoint research firm, Mr. Xu said the folding phone number only increased by 2.9% in 2024 compared to the previous year. Part of this growth comes from OnePlus Open, but low sales from Samsung folding products such as Galaxy Z Flip6 and Galaxy Z Fold6 are thought to be the main reason for the increase in expectations.
OnePlus Open, the “renaming” version of Oppo Find N3 for North American and European markets
OnePlus has no specific plan for the next Open model. According to Mr. Xu, the company is waiting for the time when the market is enough to launch a successor device, and continue to find solutions to minimize the device size, fade the fold on the screen without affecting the user experience at the flagship range. He emphasized that there is no guarantee of OnePlus Open 2 will be launched at the same time with the new generation Find N from Oppo.
The full statement of Mr. Rudolf Xu was cited by Techradar as follows:
“In the folding phone industry, the general challenge for every brand is how to make the device thinner, lighter, less folded, but at the same time do not impair other important specifications when solving those challenges.”
“OnePlus always wants to bring the best experience possible. If you look back on OnePlus Open, up to now, it still has a very competitive configuration, really.
“I also have a number to share. If you see the latest report from Counterpoint, the phone number of folding phone in 2024 increased only 2.9% compared to the previous year – a actual number lower than the forecast. The folding phone market is definitely developing, but still needs time to become a popular trend and become a mass product line.”
Oppo Find N5 – the world’s thinnest folding smartphone
Currently, it is unclear whether OnePlus will launch Open 2 next year, even if Oppo continues to update its Find N series. With a cautious strategy and focusing at the right time, OnePlus seems to be waiting for a clearer signal from the market before taking the next step in the folding screen segment.
