The shipments of the regular ‘candy car’ smartphones have always outpaced foldable devices by a considerable margin, which is a sufficient reason why Apple has refrained from entering this space for so long. Unfortunately, another company, OnePlus, has also contemplated the future of its handsets business for quite a while, which has led the Chief Executive to make a hard choice, and that is not to proceed with launching the OnePlus Open 2. After all, a company cannot keep mass producing such smartphones if there is no major demand for them.
To recap, OnePlus is not exiting the foldable smartphone market but will be going through some evaluations to see if it can re-enter this space in the future
In a forum post on the OnePlus website, Vale G clarifies that the company has made the decision to pause the process of launching future foldable smartphones and mentions that the firm will not depart from this category. While these devices do provide some utility to the masses, the biggest problem preventing foldable smartphones from becoming a mainstream success is the high pricing, which puts the brakes on the momentum. There is also the question of durability, and even though phone makers have done their level best to ensure that such smartphones boast a longer lifespan, those sporting the ‘candy bar’ form factor have always stood the test of time.
“At OnePlus, our core strength and passion lie in setting new benchmarks and challenging the status quo across all product categories. With that in mind, we’ve carefully considered the timing and our next steps in foldable devices, and we have made the decision not to release a foldable this year.
While this may come as a surprise, we believe this is the right approach for us at this time. As OPPO takes the lead in the foldable segment with the Find N5, we’re committed to developing products that will redefine multiple categories and bring you experiences that are as innovative and exciting as ever, all while aligning closely with our Never Settle mantra.
That said, our decision to pause on foldable for this generation does not signify a departure from the category. OPPO’s Find N5 demonstrates remarkable advancements in foldable technology, including the use of cutting-edge new materials and more sophisticated engineering. We remain committed to incorporating these breakthroughs into our future products.”
Speaking with TechRadar, Rudolf Xu, Senior Product Marketing Manager for OnePlus, shared a statistic from Counterpoint Research, which mentioned that foldable smartphone shipments increased by 2.9 percent year-over-year in 2024. While the market size is growing, the growth is actually lower than what it should be, suggesting that it will take a while before other manufacturers, including OnePlus, find success in this area.
News Source: OnePlus
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