After the folding of the mobile phone screen, notebook computers began to "roll" into the folding screen army. Hewlett-Packard and Asus revealed that they plan to launch a foldable notebook computer with OLED flexible screen this year. After the field of mobile phones, can the foldable flexible screen be widely used in notebook computers? In the eyes of the industry, this is not easy.
Is the era of laptop folding screen coming?
Folding screen laptops are not new. As early as 2020, Lenovo introduced a notebook computer with OLED screen-ThinkPad X1 Fold, which is known as "the world’s first foldable personal computer". This is also the only folding screen notebook computer product that has come out so far. Since then, Samsung, Apple, and Dell have also appeared in related products, but they are either prototypes or concept machines.
After a lapse of two years, it has finally been reported that HP and ASUS plan to launch foldable laptops with OLED flexible screens this year. It is reported that HP is preparing to release a 17-inch foldable screen notebook computer later this year, and its OLED flexible screen supplier comes from LG Display just like Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold foldable screen notebook. Asustek’s Zenbook17 Fold OLED folding screen laptop is expected to be launched in the middle of this year, and its flexible panel comes from BOE.
After the folding screen became the most eye-catching product in the field of mobile phones, the notebook computer with folding screen, which has been silent, became active. All of a sudden, both manufacturers’ folding screen notebook computers have plans to go on the market, which makes people wonder whether the era of folding screen notebook computers is coming.
Do laptops really need folding screens?
The PC market calls for innovation. You know, for decades, large computers and PC products have been improving in performance, but from the perspective of form, they have not changed much.
In the eyes of the industry, the emergence of the concept of folding screen can change the inherent form of notebook computers, and then expand the use of computers.
After using the flexible display screen, the notebook computer has a better solution to meet more visual space and portability at the same time: when working, the screen can be spread out to work efficiently; When carrying, fold up the screen and take it and leave.
However, according to Dong Min, Deputy Secretary-General of china video industry association, the application scenarios of folding screen notebook computers are still relatively narrow, and the market demand is difficult to meet expectations. (Reporter Gu Yue)
During the interview, many gamers said that they would not play games with folding screen notebooks. They believe that although the folding screen laptop makes the screen bigger, the desktop screen can be bigger and have a better experience. In addition, the touch support of notebook computer software is far less perfect than that of mobile phone platform, and users have no need to cancel the physical keyboard. Especially in games and office code words, if you use the touch keyboard on a notebook with a folding screen, the efficiency will definitely decrease a lot. But if the screen is unfolded and an external keyboard is added, the laptop with folding screen will be no different from the tablet.
"The application scenario of folding products is still under innovation and development." Dong Min said that at present, the purchase of folding screen mobile phones is still dominated by early adopters, while the recognition of folding notebook computers is even lower. The introduction of folding notebook computers is more due to the wishes of manufacturers than the demand of the terminal market.
Liu Yushi, a senior analyst at CINNO Research, also believes that the target market of folding screen notebook computers is more niche. Folding screen notebook computer is aimed at the 10-to 13-inch two-in-one notebook computer market, that is, the display area of portable notebook computer is realized by approaching the size of ordinary tablet computer. However, the market size of the 2-in-1 product itself is also limited.
In addition, Liu Yushi pointed out that the traditional notebook computer was originally an open-close structure, and there were many products with upper and lower screens in the past. Therefore, there is not much difference between the two except the difficulty of producing and using the folding screen itself.
How difficult is it to popularize folding screen notebook computers?
According to industry insiders, the insufficient rigid demand in the market will lead to the weak promotion of relevant markets and slow technology development, thus affecting the rapid development of folding screen notebook computers. Not only that, the folding screen notebook computer also faces similar technical problems as the folding mobile phone.
The great challenge comes from the maturity of related key materials such as screen, diaphragm, glass and hinge. Liu Gang, a senior analyst of CCID Consulting, said that for the OLED panel, the most important part of the folding screen notebook computer, many factors should be considered comprehensively when the yield needs to be improved. Taking the panel utilization rate as an example, the cost of cutting into smaller mobile phone panels and larger computer panels is very different. In addition, due to the large size of the computer screen, it is very difficult to achieve less bad points and no crease in the appearance during repeated folding.
Even though the current folding screen production technology and related materials can support the mass production of folding screen notebook computers, its supply capacity and cost are still limited due to the stability of materials and the maturity of technology.
If the folding screen notebook computer wants to develop into a mature market segment, its price will also be a threshold for a period of time. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold folding screen notebook currently sells for nearly 20,000 yuan, which can be regarded as a "luxury" in the notebook. Therefore, most folding laptops have always existed as flagship machine or concept products. At present, the price of HP and ASUS folding screen computers has not been disclosed, but it can be expected that it will not be cheap.
The industry believes that for most users, the demand for such expensive folding screen notebooks in a short period of time will not be too strong, and folding screen notebooks can only be a niche product in recent years. Guyue