Pixel Fold: Google’s first foldable smartphone will arrive at the end of 2021

Google should follow in Samsung’s footsteps by unveiling its first folding smartphone by the end of the year, shortly after its future Pixel 6 and 6 Pro flagships. It would use one of the best screen technologies of the Korean giant.

According to David Naranjo, who works at Display Supply Chain Consultants, the Google Pixel “Fold” will arrive at the end of the year. The leader therefore corroborated the information of his colleague Ross Young, who had previously said that the first folding smartphone from the American giant would arrive in the fourth quarter of 2021.

So far, not much is known about the Pixel Fold. We had learned that Samsung will be responsible for supplying the screens, and Google is also expected to use its new Tensor chip which it will introduce on the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro this fall.

The Google Pixel Fold will use a 120Hz LTPO display

David Naranjo unveiled a summary table of all smartphones that will use a screen with LTPO technology, and the Google Pixel Fold as well as the upcoming Pixel 6 and 6 Pro are a good part of it. This allows you to dynamically vary the refresh rate of the screens from 1 Hz to 120 Hz depending on the content that is displayed.

Result significant energy savings, up to 15%, compared to a conventional LTPS panel. Several smartphones already use this technology, for example the Galaxy S21 Ultra from Samsung or the OnePlus 9 Pro.

In addition to the Pixel Fold, other manufacturers are also expected to launch their first folding smartphones by the end of the year. This is for example the case of Vivo or OPPO, and Xiaomi is expected to present the successor to the MIX Fold early next year. The Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 should therefore have many competitors in the coming months.

According to Counterpoint, sales of foldable smartphones will be multiplied by 10 by 2023, and the arrival of all these players in this market dominated by Samsung should in particular help bring down the prices of these smartphones still financially inaccessible for many users.

Source: DSCCDave