(Yicai) Feb. 7 -- Chinese telecoms giant Huawei Technologies plans to debut a double-folding smartphone as early as the next quarter of the year, according to market speculation.

Huawei is in the process of developing the phone, Zhou Hua, chief analyst at Cinno Research, told Yicai. Chinese display panel giant BOE Technology Group, which has already announced the successful development of double-folding screens, will be Huawei’s supplier for the new product, Zhou added. 

Shenzhen-based Huawei has not yet publicly addressed the speculation about the device’s release schedule nor that BOE has become its bi-folding display supplier.

BOE announced on Weibo last month that the Beijing-based firm had already independently developed fully structured double-folding organic light-emitting diode displays that enable the switch from phone to tablet through a second fold.

Tianma Microelectronics, another Chinese display panel maker, recently disclosed that it has developed multiple types of folding displays, including inward-folding, outward-folding, and Z-like double-folding displays.

Tianma said a bi-folding panel would be 6.5 inches when folded twice, eight inches when folded once, and 9.9 inches when fully unfolded, with a display thickness of just over 0.7 millimeters.

Chinese electronics component manufacturer Visionox Technology also unveiled a double-folding display back in 2020 that can be held in one hand when folded twice.

Global sales of foldable handsets will jump 33 percent to 24 million units this year, according to a Cinno Research forecast. The figure for China alone is expected to surge 41 percent to 9.6 million.

Editor: Futura Costaglione