The foldable phone maker that beat Samsung to market has gone bust

The tech world is a fickle place. Royole – the first company to launch a folding phone – has been declared bankrupt. It was first to market with the Royole FlexPai in 2018, beating the likes of Samsung and Huawei.

The Royole FlexPai had a 7.8-inch flexible display that ran around the exterior of the device, very much like the Huawei Mate X that followed the year after. While Samsung (and most brands since) opted for a display on the interior, the FlexPai attracted no shortage of attention.

It wasn’t all good, however, as is often the case with startup brands trying to break new ground with disrupter devices. The Verge described it as “charmingly awful”, but there were subsequent devices that, frankly, no one really paid any attention to because by that point Samsung was on the scene with a better solution and better folding phones followed.

But, someone had to be first, and Royale attempted a lot of firsts during its brief stint in the world of tech, some of which are now commonplace and mainstream. Sadly, for all its ideas, Royale was not the company to make those things stick.

According to IT Home (via Android Authority), the company was declared bankrupt by the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court, with the court saying that Royale couldn’t repay its debts.

The folding phone space is a tricky place

The folding phone category of phones is proving difficult. Samsung enjoys the 50% of the market, according to data from Statista, while Huawei has about 30% thanks to sales in China.

There are plenty of other players – Google, OnePlus, Motorola, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, Honor – but Samsung’s dominance reflects the popularity of the brand in regular phones too.

Folding phone sales are predicted to increase, but they remain expensive and there’s still uncertainty surrounding the longevity of the display through the hinges. There are also difficulties in providing the sort of environmental protection that’s now pretty much taken for granted on a candybar phones.

Earlier in the year, it was suggest the foldable future for Oppo and Vivo was uncertain – something that Oppo later denied – but talk around particular brands exiting the market certainly isn’t healthy. While sales are expected to increase, these early days of folding phones remains a challenge.

Farewell Royole, you were entertaining, for a bit.