Last year, a couple of major smartphone makers released the world’s first and much-anticipated folding screen smartphones. If you guess, we are talking about the Huawei Mate X and the Samsung Galaxy Fold, then you’re right. But a bit later, Motorola resurrected its favourite RAZR series, and it came with a vertical flip shape. It was welcomed so warmly, that many big smartphone makers later decided to launch their own vertical flip models. Among them are even such manufacturers as ZTE. Recently, a new and mysterious ZTE smartphone appeared on the website of FCC. At first sight, it is a 5G smartphone that should come our way in the nearest future. But we remembered another leak in the same certification platform. The latter has been assumed to refer flip smartphone. Interestingly, the model number of both leaks are identical.
Currently, there are only two vertical flip smartphones. They are the aforementioned Motorola RAZR and the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip. But we have seen too many patents, suggesting that almost all major smartphone makers are working on such a handset. At least, they want to create something like the RAZR.
Most patents come our way from Xiaomi and Huawei. Honestly, we have almost no doubts that there will be a Huawei flip phone this year. But we are not so convinced in Xiaomi, and as for the ZTE smartphone with a flip form factor, there is not much information. But one thing is clear, after the temporary ban by the US, ZTE wants to recover and capture a larger market share.
Terry Ts 
Rudhra Nandu