Portrait of an unknown person who dares to get in the way of both Samsung and Huawei in the race of folding screen smartphones

news about Portrait of an unknown person who dares to get in the way of both Samsung and Huawei in the race of folding screen smartphones
Since a completely unknown Chinese startup, Royole has made the world known to his name. The plastic display manufacturer in Shenzhen surprised the smartphone industry at the end of last year when it launched, commercializing the world's first folding smartphone display, surpassing big ones like Samsung and Huawei.news about Portrait of an unknown person who dares to get in the way of both Samsung and Huawei in the race of folding screen smartphones

news about Portrait of an unknown person who dares to get in the way of both Samsung and Huawei in the race of folding screen smartphones At MWC 2019 took place in Barcelona last week, Samsung and Huawei also impressed with their folding screen smartphones priced at $ 2,000. But it was only when visiting Royole's booth that attendees of the MWC had the opportunity to touch and try the folding screen smartphone, the most important innovation of the smartphone industry for years. Samsung's Galaxy Fold and Huawei's Mate X are clearly more beautiful, expensive and sleek than Royole's FlexPai price of 1,300 but they are displayed in a glass case, no one can try.news about Portrait of an unknown person who dares to get in the way of both Samsung and Huawei in the race of folding screen smartphones

Royole is not a giant in the high-tech industry. The company is 7 years old and has never produced smartphones. However, last year Royole began producing commercial versions of FlexPai in Shenzhen.news about Portrait of an unknown person who dares to get in the way of both Samsung and Huawei in the race of folding screen smartphones

With the achievements on FlexPai and expertise in the field of bendable screen and sensor development, Royole is noticed by many major global brands. Last December, Royole signed an agreement with Airbus to jointly develop flexible screens and sensors for new generation aircraft compartments.news about Portrait of an unknown person who dares to get in the way of both Samsung and Huawei in the race of folding screen smartphones

On his website, Royole boasts a number of technologies that they are the first in the world to achieve. These technologies include: Full color AMOLED plastic display and the first plastic sensor in the world (2014); The world's first foldable 3D mobile projection device with foldable headphones (2015); The world's first curved panel for cars based on flexible electronic devices (2016). Royole currently has more than 2,500 patents and 102,000 square meters flexible plastic screen manufacturing plants in Shenzhen with offices in California and Hong Kong.news about Portrait of an unknown person who dares to get in the way of both Samsung and Huawei in the race of folding screen smartphones

Portrait of an unknown person who dares to get in the way of both Samsung and Huawei in the race of folding screen smartphones - Photo 1.news about Portrait of an unknown person who dares to get in the way of both Samsung and Huawei in the race of folding screen smartphones

All these achievements began with the idea that co-founder and CEO Bill Liu came up while wandering on the lawn of Stanford University.

Back in 2006, the guy Liu from Jiangxi, who was only 23 years old at the time, had just graduated from electrical engineering at the prestigious Tsinghua University, went to Stanford to study for a Ph.D. From the very beginning, Liu considered how to study the problem to make a graduation project.

The idea of ​​inventing a flexible screen like a piece of paper suddenly appeared. "I thought that the plastic screens would revolutionize the way we interact with the world and that's great," recalls Liu.

Video introduction Royole FlexPai

In the next three years of PhD study, Liu spent most of his time at the school's lab trying to figure out how to realize his ideas. "I was immersed in my idea and I thought about it all day and night," Liu said.news about Portrait of an unknown person who dares to get in the way of both Samsung and Huawei in the race of folding screen smartphones

Finally, when he found a viable solution in 2012, Liu quit his job as a researcher at IBM to return to China with two Stanford classmates Wei Peng and Yu Xiaojun. Together, they founded Royole.

"Since there are no examples to follow, we have done everything from the beginning," Liu said. "We tried and wrong. Try again and go wrong ... The screen we created contains 20 million transistors and has nearly 100 nanomaterials. In order for it to work you have to make sure everything is correct. news about Portrait of an unknown person who dares to get in the way of both Samsung and Huawei in the race of folding screen smartphones".

In those difficult days, Liu had to use his savings to maintain the company's operations. But his commitments and attitudes attracted investors. Despite the skepticism about technology, some analysts believe that plastic screens can only appear on the market in 2040, two Chinese venture capitalists have decided to bet on Royole. "We believe Liu and his team will do that. He has a very impressive background," Li Wei, the founding partner of the Shenzhen Green Pine Capital Partner fund, one of the first investors. Royole's first, shared in 2015.news about Portrait of an unknown person who dares to get in the way of both Samsung and Huawei in the race of folding screen smartphones

The trust of investors paid off. In 2014, Royole launched his first product, a flexible, full-color display screen with a thickness of only 0.01mm. This type of screen has been used by advertising agencies to attach to clothing, such as flashing t-shirts or hats for advertising campaigns. Other products using this display technology of Royole include rollable computer keyboards, smart sofas ...news about Portrait of an unknown person who dares to get in the way of both Samsung and Huawei in the race of folding screen smartphones

At CES, which took place in Las Vegas in January, visitors were excited about Royole's products.

Portrait of an unknown person who dares to get in the way of both Samsung and Huawei in the race of folding screen smartphones - Photo 3.news about Portrait of an unknown person who dares to get in the way of both Samsung and Huawei in the race of folding screen smartphones

"It is very easy to use," Yejong Chang shared with reporters while taking a selfie stick with Royole's plastic sensor. She loves selfie .news about Portrait of an unknown person who dares to get in the way of both Samsung and Huawei in the race of folding screen smartphones