14 | Wednesday, January 6, 2021 HONG KONG EDITION | DAILY BUSINESS E­healthcare Foldables make sizzle promises to More makers stepping boost medical up moves to tap into the sector as global resources shipments witness big growth in 2020 By FAN FEIFEI China’s online healthcare sector is set to By FAN FEIFEI see new development opportunities as the [email protected] COVID­19 pandemic has boosted demand for internet­based healthcare platforms, Foldable smartphones are set to become industry experts said. all the rage this year as more manufactur­ Such platforms provide online health and ers are expected to launch them. telemedicine services to reduce the burden Devices with foldable screens can be used on hospitals. either as tablets or as pocket­size handsets, With the development of telemedicine, creating broad application scenarios. the situation of unbalanced and scarce med­ This nifty model is the mar­ ical resources nationwide will be alleviated ket’s attempt to shake off an innovation lull to some extent, they said. and bolster sales that have been sluggish DXY, a leading digital healthcare technol­ due to the COVID­19 pandemic. ogy company in China, is speeding up its lay­ Global foldable panel shipments are out across both upstream and downstream, expected to surge 454 percent year­on­ to cover doctors, pharmaceutical enterpris­ year to 3.1 million units in 2020. Data for es, medical institutions, consumer products last year have yet to be compiled and companies, as well as online consultation confirmed. services for the public. Total 2020 revenues are seen rising 394 Li Tiantian, founder and chairman of percent to $462 million, according to a DXY, said the company will concentrate on report from Display Supply Chain Consult­ physicians and the public, and strengthen ants, an industry tracker. its cooperation with professional doctors The DSCC report said was and enterprises. clearly the dominant last year with Li said DXY has achieved profitability and an over 90 percent share in the third and maintained steady growth. As the Chinese fourth quarters and an 87 percent share people’s awareness of health has risen during for the full year on the basis of panel pro­ the pandemic, the medical and online health curements. Consumers check out foldable smartphones at a store in on Oct 24. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY industry witnessed explosive growth. It is estimated to take up an 88 percent The company received $500 million in its share in last year’s latest funding round led by Trustbridge market in terms of panel shipments. Partners, and backed by Tencent Invest­ At least three foldables are expected from ment and GL Ventures. Samsung this year. In addition, Samsung Sales will witness an “DXY plans to consolidate its core pillar — Display is expected to become more aggres­ physicians’ expertise — and support the sive in helping other enter the folda­ explosive growth if the growth of Chinese doctors. It’ll also forge ble market by selling them panels for the price falls below 8,000 partnerships with doctors, enterprises, first time this year. medical institutions and other professional In February, the South Korean tech­ yuan, which mainly resources to explore more medical and nology giant unveiled Galaxy Z Flip, depends on the maturity health scenarios,” Li said. which uses a vertically folded screen and “Through DX Doctor, an online health­ a retro flip design, and in September the of the entire supply care platform operated by DXY, the compa­ Galaxy Z Fold 2. chain.” ny aspires to improve the quality of Chinese The DSCC report noted by model, the people’s healthy lives.” Z Flip and the Z Fold 2 Wu Shuyuan, a senior analyst at Founded in 2000, DXY boasts about 5.5 are expected to be the two bestselling fold­ Beijing­based market research million professional users, among whom 2 firm Sigmaintell ables last year on both unit and revenue million are registered doctors, or about 70 basis. percent of the total nationwide. It provides Ross Young, CEO of DSCC, tweeted that academic discussions, continuing medical Corp may launch three foldable 3.1 education and job recruitment services for smartphones this year, each with a differ­ million medical professionals. ent design — out­folding, in­folding and Last month, the company announced it expected global foldable panel ship­ clamshell. ments of 2020 has teamed up with major vaccine enter­ Other domestic players such as prises, such as MSD, GSK, Sinovac Biotech and Vivo are also expected to launch folda­ Ltd and Hualan Biological Engineering, to ble smartphones this year. is segment in the premium smartphone mar­ establish a vaccine service platform. reportedly working on a foldable smart­ ket for the next decade. It also launched HPV, influenza and shin­ phone code­named “Passport”, which is Visitors try Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5G smartphones during a telecom expo in The R&D and mass production of folda­ gles vaccination services. Users can make expected to be released in the third quarter Guangzhou, Guangdong province, in November. LI ZHIHAO / FOR CHINA DAILY ble phones depend heavily on panel manu­ online reservations and choose the nearest this year. facturers. Zhang Yu, vice­president of BOE offline clinics or hospitals through WeChat Wu Shuyuan, a senior analyst at Bei­ Technology Group, said the price will likely accounts, apps and mini programs of DXY. jing­based market research firm Sig­ “Sales will witness an explosive growth if of a wallet and fit in pockets or bags. drop to around 10,000 yuan this year as In response to the pandemic, DX Doctor maintell, said global shipments of the price falls below 8,000 yuan, which Meanwhile, Royole Corp, a ­ major screen panel companies have scaled introduced real­time reports, which have foldable smartphones are expected to mainly depends on the maturity of the based startup developing flexible screens, up their production capacities. Also, mate­ become a source of global data on COVID­19. rise 173 percent this year to about 11 mil­ entire supply chain.” launched its second­generation bendable rial costs are expected to plummet in two It also launched public information prod­ lion units. Last year, Chinese smartphone maker phone. Priced at 9,988 yuan, the FlexPai 2 is years. ucts that popularize science, dispel rumors Foldable sales, however, might be ham­ Huawei Technologies Co unveiled the Mate the first 5G flexible phone to cost less than “The foldables have low display yields online, offer free consultations and conduct pered by supply chain disruptions, high Xs, its second­generation folding screen 10,000 yuan. and higher design costs as of now. Consum­ open classes at both physician and public costs and sub­optimal hinges of the smartphone. According to a research report from ers need to spend more to buy foldable ends. mechanical design that allows the flexible For its part, US­based rolled out Strategy Analytics, a market research firm, smartphones that have the same configura­ According to the National Health Com­ panel to fold and unfold. This could its premium 5G­powered foldable mobile global foldable smartphone shipments will tions compared with other phones,” said Jia mission, the “internet plus medical and reduce foldables to a market niche, Wu phone Razr in September. Priced at 12,499 grow to 100 million units by 2025. It pre­ Mo, an analyst at Canalys, a market healthcare” initiative spawned policies that said. yuan ($1,932), the gadget can fold to the size dicted foldables will be the fastest­growing research company. promoted online diagnosis and treatment, internet hospitals and telemedical services. Other healthcare platforms have created special services where people can interact with doctors online about their symptoms Self­driving service revolutionizing urban transportation or simply receive more details about pre­ ventive measures during the outbreak. User inquiries at Haodf, which owns and — A white car parked on a operates an online healthcare community wide street in Changsha, capital of Central platform that helps patients find doctors, China’s province, awaits passengers. rose by 60 times between February and However, there’s something unusual about A touch screen in the car March. this ordinary­looking taxi — it has no “driver.” New users of Ping An Good Doctor, anoth­ In April, Changsha became the first in identifies obstacles and er healthcare platform, surged by a stagger­ the country to roll out the self­driving taxi makes dynamic ing 900 percent. And, between December service for the public. 2019 and January 2020, online consulta­ Though the service is currently limited to predictions within a 360­ tions rose by a whopping 800 percent on a a selected part in the city, mainly covering degree field of vision and yearly basis. residential communities, commercial areas A report by Analysys, a Beijing­based and industrial parks, Changsha has never­ displays road conditions internet consultancy, said revenue of Chi­ theless been dubbed the “City of Intelligent including nearby vehicles, na’s online healthcare industry reached Driving” for unveiling such cutting­edge 133.6 billion yuan ($20.5 billion) in 2019, up technology for public consumption. lanes, intersections and from 98.5 billion yuan in 2011. The driverless cars, also known as robo­ traffic lights.” The figure for 2020 will likely be about taxis, are coproduced by Chinese search 200 billion yuan, up some 47 percent, due to provider and artificial intelligence heavy­ Cheng Li, director of the testing and the pandemic, the consultancy predicted. vehicle operation department of weight Baidu and Chinese automaker FAW Hunan Apollo “Online healthcare platforms not only Hongqi, and operated by Hunan Apollo effectively relieve pressure on hospitals and Intelligent Transportation based in the alleviate problem of unbalanced medical city’s Xiangjiang New Area. Users can hail may encounter,” he said. resources during the pandemic, but also the taxis using Baidu Map, a mobile naviga­ A self­driving taxi is parked on a street in Changsha, Hunan province, on Aug 6. Based on their automation levels, intelli­ reduce contact between doctors and tion app. XIAOYI / XINHUA gent driving technology at home and abroad patients and eliminate threats from partial The driver’s seat is not exactly empty but is placed in five categories from L1 to L5. cross­infection,” said Chen Liteng, an ana­ occupied by safety staffer. Self­driving taxis and buses plying Chang­ lyst at the Internet Economy Institute, a “During the self­driving mode, I do not pany’s testing and vehicle operation ters long. It has 22 stops in both directions sha roadways belong to L4 and L3, respec­ domestic consultancy. need to control the steering wheel unless department. and has been operated safely for two years. tively, namely the “highly automated level” He said the online healthcare market is there is an emergency,” said Cao Jiajie, a The city has been a trial ground for sever­ Throttles, brakes, steering wheels and and the “conditional automated level”. expected to witness explosive growth with technician with Hunan Apollo. al categories of smart vehicles, including gear shifting in these autonomous vehicles Although China is a latecomer to the self­ supportive policies, the adoption of 5G tech­ “A touch screen in the car identifies self­driving buses running on China’s first are all managed by computers, allowing the driving sector, ambitious plans from tech­ nology and the internet of things. obstacles and makes dynamic predictions open­road smart bus demonstration line, “driver” to keep a better eye on the road nology giants like Baidu, Alibaba and Chen Baiping, managing director and within a 360­degree field of vision and dis­ according to a spokesperson of Xiangjiang during test drives, said He Jiancheng, a Tencent as well as startups like Pony.ai have partner of Boston Consulting Group, said plays road conditions including nearby Smart Tech Innovation Center. safety personnel staff. jump­started the industry. the pandemic has become a catalyst for digi­ vehicles, lanes, intersections and traffic The smart bus demonstration line, built “My main task is to deal with any talization of the entire healthcare industry lights,” said Cheng Li, director of the com­ in the Xiangjiang New Area, is 7.8 kilome­ unpredictable situations that the car XINHUA as well as pharmaceutical companies.