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Vivo, which entered the foldable smartphone market last year, is now looking to expand into the rollable phone segment. It aims to release a handset with a partially expanded screen that can extend or shrink at the press of a button. Transsion Holdings, the owner of brands including Itel, Tecno, and Infinix, has already showcased its Tecno Phantom Ultimate prototype with a rollable display. The phone’s 6.55-inch screen can expand to 7.11 inches, giving it a small tablet-like form factor. The display uses low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) thin-film transistor (TFT) technology.
By launching rollable display smartphones in 2024, Vivo and Transsion Holdings aim to gain a competitive edge over Samsung, which currently dominates the foldables market. Other major smartphone manufacturers, including Motorola, Samsung, LG, and TCL, have also showcased similar concepts in recent years. Motorola displayed a rollable Rizr concept at the Mobile World Congress in 2023, while Samsung previewed its prototypes at CES earlier this year. LG, although it has shut down its mobile phone business, unveiled the world’s first rollable smartphone at CES 2021. Oppo has also developed a rollable phone concept with a 6.7-inch screen that can transform into a 7.4-inch mini tablet-sized display.
The market for rollable display handsets is expected to grow rapidly in the coming years as consumers seek more versatile and flexible smartphone designs. These devices offer the convenience of a smartphone and the larger screen size of a tablet with the ability to expand or shrink the display when needed. As technology advances and more manufacturers enter the market, competition in the rollables segment is likely to intensify. Vivo and Transsion Holdings are positioning themselves to capture market share and establish themselves as pioneers in this emerging category of smartphones.
The rollable display technology is still relatively new, and there are certainly technical challenges to overcome in order to ensure durability, reliability, and user-friendliness. However, with ongoing advancements in display technology and engineering, it is expected that rollable smartphones will become more mainstream in the coming years. Consumers can look forward to a new generation of devices that offer enhanced flexibility and innovative form factors. As smartphones continue to evolve, the possibilities of what they can offer expand, and rollable displays are poised to play a significant role in shaping the future of smartphones.
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1. Source: Coherent Market Insights, Public sources, Desk research
2. We have leveraged AI tools to mine information and compile it
