China’s Oppo reveals world’s first crease-free foldable phone

The phone will debut alongside an Oppo AI Pen accessory. Read more at straitstimes.com.

Half a year before Apple is expected to unveil its first foldable iPhone, a Chinese rival has solved the biggest compromise with such devices to date: the crease.

Oppo’s new hinge technology effectively makes the fold in the display imperceptible to the eye, flattening out the dip in the surface that would usually be apparent.

This marks a long-in-development breakthrough, something that companies have promised to do several times over the seven years foldable phones have been around. Oppo’s flagship foldable model with this technology, the Find N6, launches on March 17.

Foldables may emerge as a rare bright spot in a smartphone market expected to decline by 13 per cent in 2026 due to component shortages.

While they remain niche due to pricing, durability and camera concerns, Apple’s reported foldable is expected to stimulate global growth and market awareness in 2026. Phone makers are likely to focus their energies on encouraging consumers towards premium handsets – like foldables – to make up the revenue shortfall from selling fewer units, according to analysts at IDC.

Samsung Electronics and Huawei Technologies pioneered the segment in 2019, and both have moved on to creating larger and pricier trifold devices.