The unrepairable foldable phone

Source: Dongfang IC

Folding screen mobile phones are a must for almost all Android mobile phone manufacturers in the world.

As the shape, screen, hinge, price and other factors necessary for large-scale commercial use of folding screen mobile phones are becoming more and more mature, the sales of folding screen mobile phones are almost on the verge of taking off.

At the same time, as a new type of digital product, the folding screen mobile phone hides a relatively more fragile “glass body” under its high cost and price, as well as the same high maintenance cost. Among the first batch of “crab-eating” folding screen mobile phone users, many people have complained, and the warranty and repair after the failure has become an insurmountable hurdle. What makes it difficult for these consumers to understand is that the folding screen mobile phone purchased at a large price not only needs to be cautious when using it, but also why after-sales service is even more difficult.

The problem of folding screen mobile phones is highlighted

Mr. Luo, a Shanghai consumer, spent 10,999 yuan to buy the Honor Magic V folding screen mobile phone in March this year. After using it for more than half a year, problems began to appear.

“I must be very careful when I open the folding screen of my mobile phone, and I dare not use force, for fear of getting stuck and breaking it later.” Mr. Luo showed the reporter of “IT Times” that his mobile phone’s folding screen is easy to get stuck halfway when it is unfolded. It became immobile, and it was difficult to open after deliberately adjusting the angle.

Mr. Luo’s Honor Magic V folding screen phone often gets stuck when it is folded and cannot move

After the above-mentioned failure occurred, Mr. Luo came to Honor’s offline outlets, and the on-site maintenance personnel told him that the problem was on the hinge. If repairs were needed, the inner screen would have to be replaced together, and the cost would be nearly 4,000 yuan . Since the mobile phone was still under warranty, Mr. Luo asked if it could be guaranteed. After checking, the maintenance personnel said that there were bump marks on the edge of the mobile phone body, so it was considered “man-made damage” and was not covered by the warranty .

The reporter noticed that there are two suspected bumps on the bottom and side of Mr. Luo’s Honor Magic V folding screen phone. Mr. Luo said that his mobile phone will inevitably be bumped and scratched by keys and other objects in daily use, but what is certain is that the mobile phone was not touched before it broke down, and it did not fall from a high place.

Mr. Luo said that at that time, the Honor maintenance personnel determined that the mobile phone was “man-made damage” only after observing and taking pictures, and did not issue relevant test reports. “It is normal for mobile phones to have scratches and bumps during daily use. What is the basis and standard for judging ‘man-made damage’?” Mr. Luo said.

In fact, there are not a few consumers who have similar experiences with Mr. Luo. According to The Paper, Mr. Dai from Guangdong this year bought a Samsung Fold 3 folding mobile phone for 14,999 yuan, but the mobile phone suddenly failed to turn on and charge. Later, he sent the mobile phone to the official maintenance and after-sales point for maintenance. The staff said that because the mobile phone was bumped, the warranty could not be carried out, and the customer needed to spend more than 4,000 yuan to repair it at his own expense.

In June of this year, Ms. Chen complained to the reporter of “Ningbo Evening News” after purchasing a Xiaomi folding screen mobile phone, “I bought a folding screen mobile phone and used it as if I had hired a ‘father’. It didn’t take long before it broke down.” The Xiaomi repair center maintenance also identified the fault as “man-made damage”, but Ms. Chen insisted that she “has been using it very carefully”.

The reporter of “IT Times” noticed that on the Sina black cat complaint platform, there have been more than a thousand complaints about folding screen mobile phones of various brands. Folding screen mobile phones of Huawei, Honor, Xiaomi, Samsung, vivo, OPPO and other brands have inevitably encountered Complaints and consumer rights appeals often focus on mobile phone manufacturers’ determination of “man-made damage”. Faced with folding screen mobile phones with high maintenance costs, mobile phone manufacturers have become “picky” even for tiny scratches and bumps. “, and consumers are also “crying wronged” in the face of exaggerated maintenance costs.

The public says that the public is right, and the mother-in-law says that the mother-in-law is right. Regarding the determination of whether a mobile phone failure is “man-made damage”, the contradiction between consumers and brand maintenance agencies is instantly magnified on the folding screen mobile phone.

maintenance expensive

“Fragile” folding screen phones, high repair costs

On the Internet complaint platform and media reports, most of the complaints about folding screen mobile phones are related to its two core components-screen and hinge, which is why folding screen mobile phones are more expensive than ordinary mobile phones.

Compared with the bendable flexible screen, the existence of this new component of the hinge makes the body reliability of the folding screen mobile phone undergo a more complicated test.

Usually, the number of precision parts contained in the hinge of a folding screen mobile phone reaches hundreds, which also determines its high price. According to public information in the industry, the single cost of the hinge of OPPO Find N reaches 800 yuan.

Therefore, the precision and durability of hinges are often the main “selling points” in the promotion process of merchants. At present, most folding screen mobile phones claim that they can withstand more than 200,000 times of folding and opening. According to a rough estimate of 100 folds per day, the service life of the hinge can reach about 5 years. However, it has only been 2 to 3 years since the commercial use of folding screen mobile phones, and no user of folding screen mobile phones has been able to use them for 5 years.

Not only that, but the hinge technology is still being upgraded and optimized rapidly. At the new product launch conference just held by Honor, it is said that the new folding screen mobile phone Magic Vs adopts the self-developed “Luban 0 gear hinge” and adopts a new integrated casting process, which reduces the number of components in the hinge by 96%. In order to ensure stability, it can withstand 400,000 folds.

It remains to be tested by the market whether the new technology can effectively improve the user experience of consumers, but it can be seen that there is still a lot of room for major brands to explore the technology of folding mobile phones.

What makes consumers even more “chilling” is that, at least for now, it is precisely the screen and hinge, the two most problem-prone and costly core components, that face the situation of “one damage and all damage” during maintenance. Many consumers have questioned this, since it’s just a problem with the hinge, why do they have to replace the undamaged inner screen together during maintenance, and the maintenance cost of four to five thousand yuan for this can even buy another high-end Android phone .

Honor customer service responded to the “IT Times” reporter that the hinge and the inner screen of the Magic V are integrated and cannot be replaced separately. OPPO customer service also said that since the Find N hinge and screen cannot be separated for maintenance, the hinge and screen are integrated when disassembling. If maintenance is involved, the screen and hinge need to be replaced together.

Li Ming (pseudonym), who is engaged in the mobile phone repair industry, told reporters that different mobile phone manufacturers have different designs for hinges and screens, so after the hinge is damaged, it is not impossible to repair it alone, but this does not test the level of repair technicians. Small, during the hinge replacement process, it is easy to accidentally damage the screen.

Li Ming said that users usually come to ask whether the hinge of the folding screen mobile phone can be repaired, but in most cases, it is recommended to follow the maintenance specifications of various mobile phone manufacturers.

The “IT Times” reporter noticed that when almost every folding screen mobile phone is launched, the mobile phone brand will focus on introducing the hinge technology or technology it adopts, and promise hundreds of thousands of opening and closing times, so that users can buy with confidence; but with this At the same time, on the product details pages of major brands of folding screen mobile phones, there are instructions for the use of folding screen mobile phones, reminding consumers of the “fragility” of this product.

For example, “Do not press the inner screen with hard and sharp objects such as pens and fingernails” “Do not place cards, coins or keys and other items on the phone when folding the phone” “The inner screen comes with a special protective film at the factory, please do not tear it off or Paste other protective film, otherwise it will damage the screen and affect the warranty.”

Among them, vivo, Xiaomi, and Huawei clearly pointed out in the instructions that there are creases in the bending area of ​​the inner screen, and there are sounds during the opening and closing of the mobile phone, which are all normal phenomena.

Standard missing

Folding screen mobile phone maintenance system lacks standards

Statistics show that more than a quarter of complaints about folding screen phones are after-sales warranty issues.

Like Mr. Luo, many consumers are full of doubts about the definition of “no warranty” by major mobile phone manufacturers. Honor customer service replied to the “IT Times” reporter, if you can see obvious human-made bump marks at the position of the rotating shaft, it will be judged as “man-made damage”. The warranty terms on the Honor official website show that product damage caused by accidental factors or human actions does not belong to the scope of free warranty, such as liquid ingress, drop damage, input of inappropriate voltage, excessive extrusion, motherboard deformation, etc.

According to the investigation by the reporter of “IT Times”, other mobile phone manufacturers also mostly rely on the identification of their own maintenance engineers for the identification of “man-made damage”. In the eyes of consumers, the practice of mobile phone brands to independently judge “man-made damage” is sometimes not convincing, and the cost and risk of third-party inspection and repair are prohibitive.

The reporter learned that the current protection of mobile phone rights is still based on the “Regulations on the Responsibility for Repair, Replacement and Return of Mobile Phone Commodities” issued in 2001. Faced with the current status of smart phone replacement, there are still gaps in many areas.

For potential buyers of massive folding screen mobile phones, a complete and reliable after-sales and maintenance system is one of the important factors they must consider.

In order to buffer the risk of folding screen mobile phone maintenance, broken screen saver has become one of the effective means to improve the quality competitiveness of folding screen mobile phones. When the reporter visited offline stores such as Huawei and Mi Home to inquire about folding screen mobile phones, the broken screen saver was also a guarantee service recommended by the merchants.

The reporter of “IT Times” sorted out the maintenance-related prices of some mainstream folding screen mobile phones on the market, but the reporter also noticed that the broken screen insurance of folding screen mobile phones of various brands is often more than 1,000 yuan, and consumers spend nearly 10,000 yuan to buy mobile phones Whether they are still willing to pay for the expensive “broken screen insurance” in the future still tests consumers’ willingness to choose. (All data is obtained through the official website of the mobile phone brand and official customer service, and is for consumer reference only)

The reporter of “IT Times” sorted out and found that various manufacturers have launched a variety of broken screen insurance services. For example, in addition to the separate broken screen protection service, Xiaomi also launched Micare protection services, including broken screen, extended warranty and battery replacement. The service is different from other manufacturers’ value-preservation and replacement services. You can exchange the old for the new within the product value-preservation period to obtain a value-preservation-replacement cash coupon of 50% of the retail price of the original equipment of Xiaomi mobile phones. Regulations: It is available for brand-new phones, phones with good appearance (including 90% new ones), slight scratches on the screen, and slight scratches on the casing. At the same time, detailed regulations are also made for other unusable situations.

Vivo does not have a separate broken screen protection service for folding screen mobile phones, but has launched a vivo care service that includes a 1-year accidental treasure for the whole machine, a 1-year extended warranty, and a 2-year battery replacement.

Except for Xiaomi and vivo, the official websites of other manufacturers show that they will charge a certain fee when using the broken screen saver. Among them, Samsung has more detailed regulations on this fee. It can replace the folding screen (inner screen) screen assembly at a preferential price of 499 yuan, or replace the outer screen at a preferential price of 120 yuan, or replace it at a preferential price of 60 yuan. In addition, if only the main part of the folding screen (inner screen) is damaged but the screen frame and hinge are intact, you only need to pay 280 yuan.

It should be noted that even if these guarantees are purchased, merchants still have certain restrictions on the scope of their service guarantees , such as “losses and damages caused by any intentional acts” “appearance, screen scratches, wear or color that do not affect the function of the device.” “Material attachment” and so on are not within the scope of service.

How willing are consumers to purchase these services? A person from the mobile phone channel said that it has to be said that Apple’s AppleCare service has had a considerable educational effect on domestic consumers, but even so, the number of users who finally buy the foldable screen saver service is still a small number. Actively educate users, especially for foldable phone users.” On Huawei’s official website, the Mate Xs 2 folding screen mobile phone user evaluation is 2800+, and the user evaluation of the separate purchase page of the folding machine broken screen service treasure for this model is 96.

to be mature

Expert: You still need to be mentally prepared to buy a folding screen mobile phone

Despite constant complaints from consumers, in the downward trend of the domestic smartphone market, the folding screen mobile phone market has grown against the trend. According to the statistics of CINNO Research, a third-party organization, the sales volume of folding screen mobile phones in the Chinese market in the third quarter of 2022 will reach 723,000 units, a significant increase of 114% year-on-year.

“Since the beginning of this year, the domestic folding screen mobile phone market has developed relatively rapidly, but technical problems such as creases and hinges have not been completely resolved.” Liang Zhenpeng, a senior industrial economic observer, told the “IT Times” reporter that folding screen mobile phones currently have a high complaint rate. , its user pain points and technical difficulties still need to be resolved urgently, so its after-sales service will encounter greater challenges.

The reporter of “IT Times” noticed that in the current mobile phone market, the supply of folding screen mobile phones is still in short supply. Once the new folding screen mobile phones of various brands are launched, it is often “difficult to find one machine”. In Huawei’s online mall, Mate Xs 2 Each person is limited to one purchase; the vivo mall shows that there are only four pieces of the 12GB+256GB sycamore gray model of the vivo X Fold left; a clerk at a Xiaomi home in Shanghai also said that currently offline purchases of Xiaomi folding screen mobile phones need to be pre-ordered, and the delivery will take a week one.

It is understood that one of the reasons for limiting the production capacity of folding screen mobile phones lies in the yield rate of its core components. As a hinge supplier for Samsung, Xiaomi, OPPO and vivo, Jingyan Technology said in an investor survey in the middle of the year that the assembly of hinges The yield rate is actually related to the complexity of the hinge design itself . It seems that the good ones on the market can achieve a yield level of more than 70%, and a few may achieve 80%. The general yield level is 50% to 60%. But only 40% to 50% .

Honor CEO Zhao Ming also said frankly in an interview with the media: “Folding screen mobile phones need a certain amount of support in terms of process stability. Only after the amount is enlarged can various problems be fully exposed and improvements will become more successful.” As for how much to cover the cost, he said: ” The scale is at least one million. “

“The material and characteristics of the screen determine that the folding screen mobile phone itself is easy to be damaged. This is a technical defect. In addition, some manufacturers adopt the mode of folding the screen outside in the design. Consumers will inevitably bump into it during use and are more likely to be damaged. “Liang Zhenpeng believes that the most important factor affecting the development of folding screen mobile phones in the future is its failure rate. In addition, its application scenarios have yet to be fully developed.

Liang Zhenpeng said that the current development of folding screen mobile phones is still in the early stage, and it will take some time to solve these problems. As far as consumers are concerned, they still need to be mentally prepared to buy a folding screen mobile phone: “As the usage time of the mobile phone increases and the number of folds increases, the creases will become heavier. The quality of the folding screen mobile phone screen and the reliability of the product It is not as good as the current traditional mobile phones, and so far, no manufacturer has been able to completely solve the crease problem.”

Author / IT Times trainee reporter Jia Tianrong

Editor / Wang Xin kicked sister

Typesetting / Ji Jiaying

Photo／Interviewees of IT Times Sina Black Cat vivo Xiaomi Huawei Dongfang IC

Source / “IT Times” public account vittimes