Flop but not fail
Look, it will flop, at that price it has to be perfect and it's not. *But* the basic principle is right there.
People want a larger screen, and a smaller phone. The bezels got smaller and smaller, even wrapping around the body, but there is only so far you can go with that. 100% screen to phone size.
So now we're moving to foldables. But the screens are no longer rigid and tough, they're plasticy and flexible. Dirt gets under the screen. It's no longer sealed. So to get the foldable you make a few sacrifices.
But if you can get two screens to abut so they open to a single large screen, then you've done the same as a foldable but without the sacrifice of the flexing screen.
Microsoft have failed with this product: 1) the screen does not abut. 2) They cut the pixels out of the display where the hinge is, hiding the content as if obscured by the hinge, which just makes it worse. 3) The bezels top and bottom are huge! You're supposed to deliver the maximum screen for the minimum body size, and for this format it should be as close to 200% as possible! 4) The hinges are contrasting color and stand out a mile. 5) super roundy corners, yuck. 6) tent mode, trying to make a feature out of a shortcoming.
So they need to try again. The hinge needs to be behind the screens and the full surface needs to be screen, the hinges need to snap the two screens against each other.
Perfect that? Now move to 3x screens with one screen on the outside as the normal use display.
Product cycles are 1 year in the phone business and they do that by overlapping their teams. Next years phone is already in process when this year phone is launched. It's a tough market, you're either fully in it or your not in it. Microsoft should decide now that they will be another Oppo or Huawei and keep bashing out new phones until they get it right. One per year, all markets simultaneous launch. Till they get a winner.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
