Royole

Last updated
Royole
Industry Flexible electronics
Founded2012 (2012)
FounderBill Liu (Founder, Chairman & CEO)
Headquarters
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Xiaojun Yu (Director & Vice President)
Peng Wei (Vice President)
Sam Chi Fai Ng (Vice President of Finance)
Products
  • Flexible Displays
  • Flexible Sensors
  • Smart Devices
Website royole.com

Royole Corporation is a manufacturer of flexible displays and sensors that can be used in a range of human-machine interface products, including foldable smartphones and other smart devices. [1]

Contents

History

Royole was founded by Stanford engineering graduates, including current Founder Bill Liu, in 2012. [2]

The company, backed by investors including IDG Capital, AMTD Group and Knight Capital, produces fully flexible displays in volume from its 4.5-million-square-feet quasi-G6 mass production campus in Shenzhen, China. [1] [3]

Royole has offices in Fremont, California, Hong Kong and Shenzhen. [4]

Towards the end of 2020, Royole filed to go public on Shanghai's STAR Market, [5] but withdraw their application shortly after when shareholder structure issues emerged. [6]

Milestones

Royole produced the world's thinnest full-color flexible displays and flexible sensors (2014), the world's first foldable 3D mobile theater (2015), the world's first curved car dashboard based on flexible electronics (2016), the first smart writing pad, RoWrite, based on flexible sensors (2017), the volume production of Royole's quasi-G6 mass production campus for fully flexible displays (2018), and the world's first commercial foldable smartphone, FlexPai™, with a fully flexible display (2018). [7] [8]

In May 2019, Royole partnered with Louis Vuitton to launch the “Canvas of the Future” line of handbags that featured built-in flexible displays. The bags were unveiled at Louis Vuitton's Cruise 2020 runway show in New York City. [9]

In December 2018, Airbus China Innovation Centre (ACCIC) announced a partnership with Royole to explore applications of flexible displays and sensors in aircraft development with an aim to improve cabin safety and increase energy conservation. [10]

Awards

Royole has received international industry awards, including in the Red Dot Awards and International Design Awards, for its technological innovations and fast growth. [11] Royole was named a 2018 VIP Award winner by TWICE Magazine. [12] [13]

Controversies

In December 2021, 10 months after failing to go public on Shanghai's STAR Market, it was reported that Royole has delayed salary payments to employees for months after the money-losing company suffered from tight cashflow. Founder and CEO Liu Zihong held an all-hands meeting on Nov. 30 to update the company's financial situation. Liu said at the meeting that the company was in the process of obtaining financing, and expected to receive funds in December, according to some employees. All back salaries would be paid at the end of December or in January, but there was still uncertainty, Liu said. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smartphone</span> Handheld mobile device

A smartphone, often simply called a phone, is a mobile device that combines the functionality of a traditional mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multimedia playback and streaming. Smartphones have built-in cameras, GPS navigation, and support for various communication methods, including voice calls, text messaging, and internet-based messaging apps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Motorola Mobility</span> American consumer electronics company

Motorola Mobility LLC, marketed as Motorola, is an American consumer electronics manufacturer primarily producing smartphones and other mobile devices running Android. Headquartered at Merchandise Mart in Chicago, Illinois, it is a subsidiary of the Chinese technology company Lenovo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flexible display</span> Type of computer monitor

A flexible display or rollable display is an electronic visual display which is flexible in nature, as opposed to the traditional flat screen displays used in most electronic devices. In recent years there has been a growing interest from numerous consumer electronics manufacturers to apply this display technology in e-readers, mobile phones and other consumer electronics. Such screens can be rolled up like a scroll without the image or text being distorted. Technologies involved in building a rollable display include electronic ink, Gyricon, Organic LCD, and OLED.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plastic Logic</span> German company

Plastic Logic Germany develops and manufactures electrophoretic displays (EPD), based on organic thin-film transistor (OTFT) technology, in Dresden, Germany.

The form factor of a mobile phone is its size, shape, and style, as well as the layout and position of its major components.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lenovo smartphones</span> Smartphones

Lenovo smartphones are marketed as the "LePhone" in mainland China and the "IdeaPhone" overseas are smartphones designed and manufactured by the Motorola Mobility, ZUK Mobile and Medion, divisions of Lenovo. On April 27, 2017, Lenovo announced that the ZUK brand would cease operations. In 2015, Lenovo subsumed its own smartphone division into the acquired Motorola brand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phablet</span> Electronic device with features of both a smartphone and a tablet

A phablet is a mobile device combining or straddling the size formats of smartphones and tablets. The word is a blend word of phone and tablet. The term is largely unused by the late 2010s, since average PDA sizes eventually morphed into small tablet sizes, up to 6.9 inches (180 mm), with wider aspect ratios.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Honor (brand)</span> Chinese smartphone brand

Honor Device Co., Ltd., commonly known as HONOR, is a Chinese consumer electronics company majority-owned by Shenzhen Zhixin New Information Technology Co. Ltd. It was formerly a subsidiary of Huawei, who sold the brand in November 2020. Honor develops smartphones, tablet computers, wearables and mobile device softwares.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LG G Flex</span> Android phablet

The LG G Flex is an Android phablet developed and manufactured by LG. First unveiled by the company on October 27, 2013 for a release in South Korea, and carrying similarities to its G2 model, the smartphone is the company's first to incorporate a flexible display, along with a "self-healing" rear cover which can repair minor abrasions on its own.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LG G6</span> Android smartphone developed by LG Electronics

The LG G6 is an Android smartphone developed by LG Electronics as part of the LG G series. It was announced during Mobile World Congress on February 26, 2017, as the successor to the 2016 LG G5.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xiaomi Mi 8</span> 2018 smartphone by Xiaomi

The Xiaomi Mi 8 is a flagship Android smartphone developed by Xiaomi Inc. It was launched at an event held in Shenzhen, China as the successor to the Xiaomi Mi 6. The naming of the Xiaomi Mi 8 is in celebration of Xiaomi Inc's eighth anniversary. The Mi 8 draws parallels to the iPhone X, as both the rear and front of the phone are replicated. This design was later carried on to the mid-range Redmi Note 6 Pro and Mi A2 Lite.

Oppo phones are smartphones produced by the partially state-owned Chinese company Oppo, running in several countries.

The OnePlus 6T is an Android-based smartphone from OnePlus. It was announced on October 29, 2018, before being released on November 6. The launch was originally scheduled for October 30, but was rescheduled to avoid coinciding with Apple Inc.'s on the same day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samsung Galaxy Fold</span> Foldable Android smartphone by Samsung

The Samsung Galaxy Fold is an Android-based foldable smartphone developed by Samsung Electronics. Unveiled on February 20, 2019, it was released on September 6, 2019 in South Korea. The device is capable of being folded open to expose a 7.3-inch tablet-sized flexible display, while its front contains a smaller "cover" display, intended for accessing the device without opening it. With the announcement of the Galaxy Z Flip, Samsung's foldable phones were made part of the Galaxy Z series. This also retroactively applies to the Galaxy Fold.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foldable smartphone</span> Smartphone form factors that use flexible displays

A foldable smartphone is a smartphone with a folding form factor. It is reminiscent of the clamshell design of many earlier feature phones. Some variants of the concept use multiple touchscreen panels on a hinge, while other designs utilise a flexible display. Concepts of such devices date back as early as Nokia's "Morph" concept in 2008, and a concept presented by Samsung Electronics in 2013, while the first commercially available folding smartphones with OLED displays began to emerge in November 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huawei Mate X</span> High-end foldable smartphone from Huawei

The Huawei Mate X is an Android-based high end foldable smartphone produced by Huawei. It was unveiled at MWC 2019 on 25 February 2019 and was originally scheduled to launch in June 2019, but the launch was pushed back to allow for extensive testing in light of the failures reported by users of a similar product, the Galaxy Fold from Samsung. The Mate X launched in China only in November 2019. Huawei announced the Mate Xs on 24 February 2020 as a hardware revision of the original Mate X; it was released in "global markets" outside China in March 2020. The device features a more durable display, improved hinge function and a redesigned cooling system, as well as the newer Kirin 990 5G SoC and Android 10 with EMUI 10.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BOE Technology</span> Chinese electronics company

BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd., or Jingdongfang, is a Chinese electronic components producer founded in April 1993. Its core businesses are interface devices, smart IoT systems and smart medicine and engineering integration. BOE is one of the world's largest manufacturers of LCD, OLEDs and flexible displays.

The Royole FlexPai is a phone made by the Chinese company Royole. It was the first commercially available foldable smartphone, with a 7.8 inch display that folds outwards. It was first announced at CES 2018 and it started shipping on December of the same year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samsung Galaxy Z Flip</span> Foldable Android smartphone by Samsung

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip is an Android-based foldable smartphone developed by Samsung Electronics as part of the Samsung Galaxy Z series. Its existence was first revealed in an advertisement during the 2020 Academy Awards. Unveiled alongside the Galaxy S20 on February 11, 2020, it was released on February 14, 2020. Unlike the Galaxy Z Fold, the device folds horizontally and uses a hybrid glass coating branded as "Infinity Flex Display". It is available in three colors for the LTE version and two colors for the 5G version. The 5G version was also made available in a limited-edition "Mystic White" color.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samsung Galaxy Z series</span> Foldable phones from Samsung Electronics

The Samsung Galaxy Z series is a line of foldable smartphones manufactured by Samsung Electronics.

References

  1. 1 2 "Royole introduces first foldable smartphone". AZ Business Magazine. November 30, 2018.
  2. Chai Hua (June 7, 2018). "Royole builds state-of-the-art facility". China Daily.
  3. Laura He (September 27, 2017). "Ultra-thin flexible display maker Royole raises another US$800m". South China Morning Post.
  4. Liam Tung (September 27, 2017). "World's first foldable phone? Royole's 7.8in FlexPai tablet folds into dual-screen phone". ZDNet.
  5. "China display maker Royole Corp ditches US to seek $1.8 billion local IPO". Bloomberg. November 27, 2020.
  6. "Flexible-Screen Maker Royole Withdraws STAR Market IPO". Caixin Global. February 21, 2021.
  7. Ben Sin (July 29, 2019). "Review: The World's First Foldable Phone Is Surprisingly Usable". Forbes .
  8. Patricia Miller (February 25, 2019). "Flexible, Curved, Foldable: Royole CEO on Reinventing the Display". Innovation & Tech Today.
  9. Edgar Alvarez (May 10, 2019). "Louis Vuitton's flexible-screen handbags are the definition of extra". Engadget.
  10. Lulu Yilun Chen (March 15, 2019). "China's Flexible Screen Pioneer Is Seeking $1 Billion in Funding". Bloomberg L.P.
  11. "Product Design Award". reddot. October 31, 2019.
  12. "2018 TWICE VIP Award Winners". TWICE. 2018-08-20. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
  13. "Royole RoWrite Honored with 2018 TWICE VIP Award". Benzinga. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
  14. He Shujing and Denise Jia (December 9, 2021). "Chinese flexible-screen maker Royole delays employee salaries". Nikkei Asia.