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Huawei Sets Company Record Shipping >200m Phones in 2018
January 06, 2019 Huaweisaid it set a company record by shipping more than 200 million smartphonesin 2018. The growth was largely driven by the success of products like its P20, Honor 10and Mate 20 series. Huawei's smartphone shipments have grown from 3 million units in 2010 and in 2017 it sold 153 million units. The company overtook Applein the second quarter of 2018 to become the world's second largest phone vendor, according to researcher Canalys. Huawei still faces unique challenges as described above with the US government. In February, US intelligence officials advised as Americans not to purchase Huawei products out of fear they're being used to spy for the Chinese government. In January, AT&T pulled out of a deal to sell the Huawei Mate 10 Pro, and Verizonreportedly followed suit. Huawei remains popular in places like China and Europe. More than 500 million people in over 170 countries use Huawei phones, according to the company. In August, the company raised its shipment forecast for 2018 from 180 million to 200 million, and said it aims to become the world's largest phone vendor by the end of 2019. |
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ZTE has had a rough time than Huawei but the company remains focused on the future, including the development of a foldable smartphone. A recently published patent shows the company may develop a foldable smartphone with a front display that can be unfolded into a tablet-size device.
Figure 1: ZTE Foldable Design (1)
Figure 1: ZTE Foldable Design (1)
Source: Company
Earlier in 2018, TE Corporation filed a patent with the Chinese CNIPA (former SIPO). The design patent was published on December 18, 2018 and describes a foldable smartphone with a flexible display. As described by Mobiel Kopenthe foldable phone from ZTE unfolds into a tablet. On the front is a large display with a small bezel for the speaker and the selfie camera. The back looks similar to that of the ZTE Axon 9. The smartphone sports a dual camera in a vertical set-up and a flash underneath. In addition we see a fingerprint scanner in the middle. There does not seem to be any room for a 3.5mm jack, ZTE has already omitted the headphone connection with its last devices. Once unfolded the smartphone becomes a tablet. No exact dimensions are mentioned in the patent, but the flexible screen will be at least twice the size of the front-facing screen. So far little is known about ZTE and their plans for a foldable smartphone. However, the company already experienced with a ‘foldable’ dual-screen smartphone last year, the Axon M. It therefore doesn’t seem unlikely for the Chinese manufacturer to develop a similar looking device as the Samsung Galaxy Fold in the future. However, at the moment it’s still completely unknown when this device may hit the market.
Figure 2: ZTE Foldable Design (2)
Source: Company
In addition, ZTE patented a dual-sided smartphonein December that is similar to the Nubia X, released earlier this year by a former-subsidiary of ZTE. However, both the Nubia X and the ZTE Axon M come with two separate displays, while the patented dual-screen smartphone consists of one large screen that’s wrapped around one side of the body.
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Barry Young
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