Xiaomi is apparently getting ready to launch three new foldable smartphones in 2021. Ross Young, CEO of Display Supply Chain Consultants, apparently shared this development on Twitter.
Besides this previous reports have also claimed that Xiaomi is developing foldable smartphones which provides some credibility to the present claims. Besides Xiaomi, other companies like Samsung and Oppo also have foldables in the works.
The tweet mentions that the next foldable smartphones "to hit the market" will probably be from Xiaomi. It also mentions that Xiaomi will be launching three different foldable smartphones. And these three could have different designs which include out-folding, in-folding, and clamshell.
So the next foldable to hit the market will likely be from Xiaomi who is expected to have 3 foldables in the market in 2021. They will actually have all 3 types. The first will be outfolding, the second will be in-folding and the third will be clamshell.December 24, 2020
Xiaomi foldable leaks
Code previously spotted in Xiaomi's MIUI 12 by XDA Developers strongly suggests that the groundwork is being laid for a foldable device codenamed Cetus – folding capabilities are mentioned numerous times in relation to the device display.
The code reveals that we're looking at a phone running MIUI on top of Android 11, carrying a 108MP primary camera, and running some kind of Snapdragon processor (most probably a high-end model).
No other information about the phone is revealed – there's nothing about its size or its release date – but it's one of the biggest hints we've seen so far that Xiaomi has a foldable phone on the way, and it could be arriving at some point next year.
If Xiaomi does have a foldable phone in the pipeline, it wouldn't be much of a surprise: we've been hearing rumors about such a device from the Chinese electronics giant for almost two years at this point.
Rumors or not, Xiaomi is a company that likes to stay at the forefront of smartphone innovation, and it won't want the likes of Samsung, Huawei and Motorola getting too much of a head start when it comes to developing foldables.
Earlier this year there was some activity around Xiaomi patents for a device with a screen that bends, and in terms of the device design it had the look of a Huawei Mate Xs – which may or may not be what the finished smartphone ends up looking like.
Considering the mention of Android 11 and the fact that Samsung now has two Folds and a Flip out in the wild, we'd guess that Xiaomi won't want to wait much longer with its own foldable phone – a launch sometime in 2021 is looking likely.
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