Quick Summary
Oppo has told T3 that it has no plans to withdraw from the foldable phone market, contrary to earlier rumours.
It is, in fact, investing heavily in "new form factor smartphones".
There have been several reports in recent times that some phone manufacturers are getting cold feet when it comes to foldable phones.
Both Oppo and Vivo have been mentioned as brands considering withdrawing from the sector, but one of them has explained to T3 that this isn't the case.
"Oppo has been continuously investing in the research and development of the new form factor smartphones," the company told us.
It also said something similar to Pandaily, with a blunt statement that leaves nothing free for interpretation: "The foldable series products are progressing as planned," it said.
In fact, a recent settlement between Oppo and Nokia over a patent infringement case could see the UK and Europe get more foldable phones from the Chinese manufacturer, not fewer.
We are yet to see the Oppo Find N3 and Oppo Find N3 Flip released in the UK, for example. The last Oppo folding phone to have made it to these shores was the Oppo Find N2 Flip (which is still a great flip phone, to be fair).
Of course, the excellent OnePlus Open from Oppo's stablemate is effectively a rebadged Find N3 anyway.
Nonetheless, it's great to see that one of the two mentioned firms has reinforced its commitment to foldables. It is needed for that genre to grow, especially as it seems Apple won't be releasing a rival device anytime soon.
Why was Oppo mentioned as ditching foldables?
The original report that suggested both Oppo and Vivo were to scrap foldables came from comments made by Korea Economic Daily. It said that with both manufacturers suffering from falling market share, they have decided to withdraw.
We're happy to find out from the horse's mouth ourselves that this is not the case – at least when it comes to Oppo.
Vivo is yet to make a statement.
