What's next for smart devices: HONOR outlines human-centric vision for the future of technology at Fortune Global Forum 2023

Global technology brand HONOR has today appeared at the Fortune Global Forum 2023 in Abu Dhabi to discuss the future of smart devices. Dr Ray Guo, CMO of HONOR Device Co. Ltd., was joined by esteemed panelists Ben Wood, chief analyst and CMO of CCS Insight, and Frank Holzmann, Global EVP of Electrical Service, TÜV Rheinland, for an enlightening discussion titled ‘A New Intelligent World: What’s Next for Smart Devices’.

A New Intelligent World: What’s Next for Smart Devices

Hosted by Clay Chandler, executive editor for Asia, Fortune, this panel discussion covered a wide array of fascinating topics at the bleeding edge of technology, including foldable smartphones, human-centric display technology, and on-device AI.

“We are honored to be part of the Fortune Global Forum 2023,” said Dr Guo. “The business world is entering an exciting new era, and technology will play a central role. We believe human-centric innovations will enable new possibilities for the next generation of smart devices. Foldables are on the cusp of going mainstream, on-device AI is paving the way for a transformative era, and human-centric technologies, such as eye comfort display technology, are enhancing human-device interaction experiences. From our perspective, this is what’s next for smart devices.”

Foldables to Reach Mainstream

During the panel discussion, speakers shared their insights about the development of foldable smartphones. An interesting parallel was drawn between foldables in the smartphone industry and electric vehicles in the auto industry — both disrupted their industries with bold new concepts intended to change things for the better. Similarly, the latest data shows that in China more than 64 per cent of high-end smartphone users are open to make the switch to foldables, suggesting we are at the tipping point of foldable smartphones becoming mainstream.

In the past, some core user pain points of foldables were not yet solved – namely portability, durability, and battery life. Now, devices like the HONOR Magic V2 are as thin and light as a regular flagship smartphone, while delivering all the benefits of an immersive foldable screen. The HONOR Magic V2 is tested to withstand at least 400,000 folds, representing great durability, and includes silicon-carbon battery technology for all-day battery life.

After solving these consumer pain points, HONOR has recently hit a significant milestone in manufacturing one million foldables from its factory. Its Magic V2 is currently the number one best-selling foldable in China market, capturing 25 per cent share of the expanding foldable market as a single model, according to industry analysis firm Omdia.

The growing scale of production demonstrates how HONOR is driving the industry’s supply chain forwards – and that the industry is maturing. Surpassing this milestone of one million units shows that the supply chain is reaching a stage of mass production where the manufacturing process is more automated and efficient. This will benefit the wider industry, boosting supply chain confidence and encouraging other brands to innovate in the foldable space, which will in turn drive prices down and make foldable smartphones even more accessible.

Introducing HONOR’s New Dedicated Eye Comfort Lab

Human-centric technology innovation was another key theme of the panel discussion. Dr Guo shared that, for HONOR, this means identifying real users’ problems, and solving them.

Research shows that globally, at least 2.2 billion people have a vision impairment, and that this could have been prevented for at least one billion of these people. On the back of this research, HONOR made eye comfort display technology a top priority, as is evidenced by the company investing more than $140 million (one billion RMB) on display technology R&D, and developing over 500 display-related patents. Most recently, HONOR has just opened a new dedicated eye comfort lab to deepen its expertise in this area. “With this new facility, we hope to create an oasis of eye comfort in the desert of vision impairments,” commented Dr Guo.

In line with the investment, HONOR has debuted a series of innovative eye comfort features such as 3840Hz PWM dimming technology and Circadian Night Display to better protect users’ eyes, and these innovations gradually spread to the wider industry.

For example, since it introduced high frequency PWM dimming eye comfort features, 12 other smartphone brands have adopted the technology and now, more than 90 per cent of smartphone displays in China have eye comfort features like high frequency PWM Dimming.

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