ZTE has unveiled a new smartphone with a strikingly new form-factor. The Axon M is arguably the most innovative new design in smartphones since the first iPhone was introduced 10 years ago. The new device, with two outwardly folding displays that when snapped together appear to form a single large display turn a smartphone into a small tablet. But the new flagship is expensive.



The Axon M is a distinct departure for ZTE. It is a high-end flip-phone smartphone from a company best known for inexpensive devices targeted primarily at prepaid customers. The unique folder is very expensive for a Chinese smartphone and will need heavy promotion in the United States in order to sell well.

Will the new Axon M catapult ZTE into the front ranks of smartphone makers? Or will other smartphone makers, rapidly introducing similar designs, limit ZTE’s ability to make strong gains with the new form-factor? In a new report Strategy Analytics evaluates the Axon M and gives its views about how the device will fare. Clients of our Emerging Device Strategies (EDS) service can access the report here.