Huawei’s yet-to-be released foldable Mate X may come with an expensive screen repair, according to Gizmochina.
A replacement or repair will cost over $1000, which is more expensive than buying a brand new current generation phone. Of course, as with any leak, this have to be taken with a pinch of salt. That’s also a price converted from Yuan – so it could be different in Western markets.
With that said, the high fix or replacement price does speak to a wider problem of where buyers of foldable phones stand on warranty issues. The durability of foldable phones is, frankly, questionable. The lab-testing tells a story of devices capable of withstanding thousands of folds before they collapse, but – as we’ve seen with Samsung’s Galaxy Fold display disaster – things can go wrong.
In Samsung’s instance, it was people removing an important protective layer that led to the ultimate failure of the display. But there will be other, unforeseen, real-world problems that come with displays that are designed to crease – largely because they act as a natural weak point in the device.
The question, then, is how do manufacturers respond and make sure buyers aren’t left out of pocket – and why should they care? The simplest answer is that manufacturers will have to invest significantly in R&D to design new devices that house this new display technology – and they won’t want to lose droves of customers because of fixable warranty problems. Especially after that serious R&D investment.
It’s in their interests to make sure consumers are looked after – particularly at this delicate stage when foldable tech balances on the knife edged of being perceived as a gimmicky, temporary fad technology or the future of smartphones.
This is why Motorola’s free replacement and/or fix offer is intriguing. It recognises the reality of these flimsy devices whilst also making sure buyers can purchase with the confidence that they’ll be looked after. If you’ve ever owned a smartphone that has gone haywire and you’ve attempted to get a free fix or replacement, you’ll understand the importance of this.
Samsung’s $149 screen replacement price for the Galaxy Fold, which is limited to one repair, is better than Huawei’s but doesn’t match Motorola’s. This is where manufacturers will be duking it out in the next year or so, especially if Samsung launches new foldable devices next April.
There’s too many new customers at stake to not take after-purchase support seriously. And – as we’ve seen with Motorola – previously faded manufacturers can make huge comebacks with new foldable devices. So making sure you gain and keep customers by supporting them with proper, affordable, aftercare will be key to any foldable phone release roadmap.
