The key material behind the folding screen mobile phone, the secret of zirconium-based alloy
# The key material behind the folding screen mobile phone, the secret of zirconium-based alloy
April 12, 2022 at 14:46
The product manager of vivo did not use the name of liquidmetal like Yu Chengdong, but used zirconium-based alloy to explain the key shaft material in the folding screen mobile phone.
A person who has been in the field for many years said that zirconium-based alloys may be a more appropriate and accurate term. This statement avoids the unscientific imagination of those liquidmetals at room temperature.
Two years ago, at the launch of Huawei's first folding screen mobile phone, Yu Chengdong, who has always been good at finding product features, introduced this zirconium-based liquidmetal and the shaft material made of it with a page of PPT. So far, this hinge material has never been absent from the conferences of folding screen mobile phones of all manufacturers.
The vivo X Fold, known as the best inner-folding folding screen design in the world, should establish a basic standard shape for future inner-folding folding screen mobile phones. The next few folding screen mobile phones from friends are similar in appearance, including the upcoming Honor, Xiaomi, and the upgraded version of Huawei's internal folding version that will be launched at the end of the year.
All of these manufacturers will use the same suppliers - at present, there are only 6 Chinese companies in the world that are engaged in the research and production of liquidmetal for folding screen mobile phones, and only 3 companies can really provide Huawei, vivo, Xiaomi, and Honor. Mass-produced liquidmetal shaft material.
The hinge shown in the vivo promotional video uses a liquidmetal solution
According to someone familiar with the supply chain industry, [Yi'an Technology](https://translate.google.com/website?sl=auto&tl=en&hl=en&u=http://quote.eastmoney.com/SZ300328.html) and Changzhou Shijing are the suppliers of vivo zirconium-based liquidmetal materials. These two companies are also suppliers of hinge materials for Huawei's outer-folding and inner-folding folding screen mobile phones. Another company with stronger technical strength did not enter the supplier sequence of this X Fold due to the competitive factors of Anno Electronics.
OPPO and vivo, two folding screen mobile phones that have attracted much attention in the market, have adopted a pricing strategy that is extremely close to the people. The market generally expects that folding screen mobile phones will enter a stage of rapid popularization in the next two years, and liquid metal will truly become an industry. Previously, "IntellegenThings" (ID: IntellegenThings) also predicted that liquidmetal still has considerable potential in wearable, military and other fields, but it may take a very long time.
In [Yi'an Technology](https://translate.google.com/website?sl=auto&tl=en&hl=en&u=http://quote.eastmoney.com/SZ300328.html) 's annual report material, liquidmetal is introduced as follows: Liquidmetal, also known as amorphous alloy, is a new type of metal material with glass, metal, solid and liquid properties. Due to the absence of defects such as dislocations, stacking faults, and grain boundaries, amorphous alloys exhibit special mechanical properties, and their flexural strength, tensile strength, and elastic deformation are superior to commonly used materials.
The data given by Yi'an Technology is that the strength of liquidmetal exceeds 5 times that of conventional aluminum-magnesium alloys, 5 times that of 7-series aluminum, 3 times that of stainless steel, and 2 times that of titanium alloys.
The material used by Yi'an Technology for comparison is also the metal material commonly used in Apple mobile phones and Android mobile phones. The company also mentioned that liquidmetal is suitable for consumer electronics, new energy vehicle products, headphones and other fields, and shows broad application prospects in medical equipment, intelligent manufacturing, high-end sports equipment and aerospace.
But the problem is that since Yi'an Technology started recording the liquid metal business revenue in 2015, the contribution of this field's revenue has been growing slowly. Five years later, in 2020, which is the first year when Huawei launched its first-generation folding screen mobile phone, Yi'an Technology's liquidmetal revenue was 120 million. Its gross profit level actually exceeds 50%.
For 5 years, the liquidmetal field has been in the foreground. In 2018, Li Yangde, the major shareholder of Yi'an Technology, transferred his controlling stake to Zhuzhou SASAC. In 2020, Xu Shizhong, the actual controller of Tanyuan [Technology](https://translate.google.com/website?sl=auto&tl=en&hl=en&u=http://quote.eastmoney.com/SH603133.html) , sold the struggling listed company and began to concentrate on liquidmetal.
Part of the reason for Liquidmetal's slow development is Apple. Since the fall of Nokia and Motorola, Apple has been the main force in the field of liquidmetal research. It has also cooperated with Yian Technology, Foxconn, [BYD](https://translate.google.com/website?sl=auto&tl=en&hl=en&u=http://quote.eastmoney.com/SZ002594.html) and other companies to purchase a small amount of liquidmetal materials for iPhone accessories. There have also been rumors in the market that Apple plans to use this material as an accessory material for Apple Watch and laptops.
But it never landed. The reason behind this is, on the one hand, the cost of liquidmetal, and more importantly, Apple's disdain to make niche products. No matter how good the experience is, if there is no production capacity of millions or tens of millions, Apple will never consider adopting it. Apple Car, Apple Folding Screen, Apple Glasses? It's all a rigid red line.
Neither watches nor golf clubs have really made liquidmetal an industry. The real turning point came from Yu Chengdong. When Yu Chengdong saw the enthusiasm of the global media for the release of the first folding screen mobile phone, he guessed that he was really determined to promote such a product. At this time, both the liquidmetal and the shaft design are still quite immature.
Beyond the folding screen
Huawei has formed an interesting combination with Yi'an Technology and Changzhou Shijing: Huawei has enough profits to give the industry chain to innovate. At the same time, Yu Chengdong does not have too many chips, unlike Apple, which has high mass production and good quality. rate requirements. It is suitable for Chinese local enterprises to do product innovation.
Moreover, Huawei also has certain technical capabilities to assist technological innovation in the industrial chain. You know, after Apple, it is Huawei that is really involved in the research and development of the underlying technology of liquidmetal. Huawei has also used liquidmetal materials in small amounts.
The vivo X Fold basically defines the shape frame for the folding version of the folding screen in the future. The folded version of the flagship mobile phone will also be updated soon. The market has already learned that Huawei has confirmed that it will release the much-anticipated Mate Xs upgrade in a week.
According to people close to Huawei, in this series, Huawei gave up the liquidmetal hinge scheme. On the one hand, Huawei wants to find new highlights for the product lineup. More importantly, the price shows dissatisfaction with the supply chain progress of Yi'an Technology and Changzhou Shijing.
In addition to the folding screen, the folding screen industry chain needs to find new driving forces.
Some people in the industry chain confirmed that in the near future, there will be two watch companies that will launch watch products made of liquidmetal, which should be two domestic companies. If nothing else, it should still be Huawei, but the scale is not large. The suppliers are still Yi'an Technology and Changzhou Shijing.
In the annual report of Yi'an Technology, it is very generously disclosed that liquidmetal materials are used in Tesla's Model X door locks. As we all know, the Tesla Model X is expensive and should not be large. According to "Smart Things", Tesla and other electric car companies are also considering applying this material to the interior parts of cars, which is a bigger demand.
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