14 DAY TRIAL // Apple is getting ready to take the wraps off its bezel-less iPhone 8 sometime next month, but Cupertino won’t compete only with Samsung in this all-screen model biz, but also with several Chinese companies hungry for market share.
Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, Gionee, and Sharp have all prepared bezel-less smartphones and plan to bring them to the market in the coming months, DigiTimes is reporting via industry sources. Sharp has already launched a phone with no bezels called Aquos S2, and it is available in China for $375.
While at first glance Apple has no reason to worry about, the growth experienced by Chinese manufacturers lately push the Cupertino-based iPhone maker on thin ice, especially given the delays rumored to hit the iPhone 8.
Huawei close to overtaking Apple
Statistics provided by analyst firm Gartner for the Q1 2017 indicated that Samsung was the top smartphone maker worldwide with 76.6 million sold units and 20.7 percent market share, while Apple was the runner up with 51.9 million units and 13.7 percent share.
Huawei was pretty close with 34.1 million sold phones and 9 percent market share, followed by Oppo and Vivo with 8.1 percent and 6.8 percent share, respectively.
Huawei could reduce the gap with the Mate 10, the company’s next-generation flagship that will also come with a bezel-less display manufactured by Japan Display and featuring 6 inches and 18:9 aspect ratio. The aforementioned source says Huawei is increasing orders at its component suppliers, as the company is preparing for the debut of the phone in September or October the latest.
Xiaomi is also working to bring the Mi Mix 2 to the market, and the company sees this particular model as an opportunity to continue its growth in China following the small decline experienced last year. Additionally, Gionee is betting big on the four-camera phone Gionee S10 and plans to launch new phones without any screen bezels in the coming months.
And last but not least, Samsung itself is also readying the debut of the new Galaxy Note 8 phablet this week, once again with a screen with no bezels, similar to the one available on the Galaxy S8.