Honor is working on a foldable smartphone of its own after parting ways with Huawei

Foldable smartphones have been popular for a while and many companies are working on making the most of it. The latest to join that list is Honor. According to reports, Honor is apparently working on its own foldable smartphone, the Honor Magic Fold, after parting ways with Huawei earlier this year. Given that Xiaomi just released the Mi Mix Fold and Google is reportedly working on a foldable device too, it is not surprising that Honor wants to give this a go too. Oppo is another company working on a foldable device as well, and reports state that Samsung is supplying panels to Oppo. However, there’s nothing more we know about Oppo’s plans yet.

A report from the Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC) states that the Honor Magic Fold is going to feature in-folding panels from BOE and Visionox. There is no further information on this, however. Honor CEO George Zhao has told CNET in 2018 that Honor had plans of releasing a foldable phone in the future but the “cost was prohibitive”. Zhao had, at that point in time, suggested that the device might launch in 2020. “For Honor I think we will find a way to make this so our target customer can have a foldable phone. I think next year; next year … should be the moment,” Zhao said. Given the current situations, it is highly possible that delay in manufacturing and design process due to the ongoing pandemic has pushed back Honor’s plans to 2021.

As XDA Developers points out, the “best part” about the Honor Magic Fold will be that it should be “completely unencumbered” by the US government when it launches. Honor is going to launch a smartphone with a 5G Qualcomm chip, something that Huawei cannot do, and the next Honor device is also going to have Google Mobile Services pre-installed in the West.

But, it is possible that there is not going to be a western release any time soon since most China-based companies launch their products in the home country first and globally, later. Xiaomi’s Mi Mix Fold is yet to be launched outside the country.