Royole Corporation
The Chinese display maker that sold a foldable phone before Samsung was ordered into liquidation in 2024
- Founded
- 2012
- Closed
- 2024
- Lifespan
- 12 years
- Peak valuation
- $6 billion
- Country
- China
- City
- Shenzhen
- Sector
- Hardware
- Founders
- Liu Zihong (Bill Liu)
- Investors
- Shenzhen Capital Group, IDG Capital, Green Pine Capital Partners
- At its peak
- Peak valuation above USD 6 billion; FlexPai, the first commercial foldable phone, in 2018
- Cause of closure
- Ran out of cash
What did it do?
Royole was a flexible display and sensor company founded in Shenzhen in 2012 by Liu Zihong, who holds a Stanford PhD. In 2018 it launched FlexPai, with a 7.8-inch outward-folding screen, as the world's first commercial foldable phone. At the end of that year it invested more than CNY 10 billion in an OLED panel line in Shenzhen. It also struck partnerships such as handbags with displays for Louis Vuitton.
Why did it shut down?
Attempts to list in the United States and on Shanghai's STAR Market failed between 2019 and 2021. The company reported losses of CNY 802 million in 2018, CNY 1.1 billion in 2019 and CNY 961 million in the first half of 2020. Output stopped in 2022, and payments to suppliers and workers slipped. In May 2024 a Shenzhen court accepted creditors' bankruptcy petition. On 18 November 2024 it ordered the liquidation of the company and two subsidiaries. A first auction at CNY 1.23 billion in December 2024 drew no bidders; in the fifth round the assets went to HKC for CNY 503.9 million.
The story
At the end of 2018 a little-known Chinese company put a foldable phone on sale before Samsung. Royole's FlexPai was flawed, with its outward-folding 7.8-inch screen and thick side bezel, but it went down in history as the first commercial foldable phone.
Liu Zihong, who holds a Stanford PhD, had founded the company in Shenzhen in 2012. The real goal was the display, not the phone. So at the end of 2018 it built its own OLED line, investing more than CNY 10 billion. Its valuation passed USD 6 billion at the peak, and Caixin has cited a figure of roughly USD 8 billion.
But the sums depended on a listing. Attempts in the United States and Shanghai came to nothing between 2019 and 2021. Losses grew, reaching CNY 1.1 billion in 2019. Output stopped in 2022. On 18 November 2024 a Shenzhen court ordered liquidation. Twelve buildings and nearly 2,000 machines sold to HKC after five auctions for CNY 503.9 million, about a twentieth of what the line alone had cost.
Lessons for founders
- Being first in technology is not the same as being first in sales. FlexPai beat Samsung to market in 2018, yet losses were still running high in the first half of 2020.
- If you build your own factory before revenue arrives, you tie the balance sheet to a single listing. When the IPO fell through, Royole's CNY 10 billion line became a load it could not shift.
- Draw up your shrink plan on the day the listing timetable slips, not the day the money runs out. The gap between the 2021 withdrawal and the 2022 halt is the cost of waiting.
Sources
- Pioneering Foldables Company Goes Bankrupt (Display Daily, 2024-11-21)
- Flexible Screen Maker Royole Goes Bankrupt (Caixin Global, 2024-11-20)
- Huawei denies offer to invest in ex-unicorn Royole (South China Morning Post via Yahoo Finance, 2024-06-12)
- Shenzhen Panel Maker May Bid for Royole's Assets, Source Says (Yicai Global, 2024-11-29)
- Royole auction outcome (Display Daily, 2025-01-27)
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