Samsung Original Galaxy Flip This phone made me fall in love with foldable phones. Before foldable phones came along, smartphones were big and bulky. Galaxy FoldRather than prioritizing portability, the goal was to pack as much screen real estate as possible into a pocketable design, which resulted in the Fold being huge even when closed.
The success of the Flip appears to have come as a surprise to Samsung, which, despite all the advertising it’s poured into the Fold, has been slow to announce a foldable device. 70% of the company’s foldable products are In 2021, a year after its launch, Samsung’s foldable smartphone recorded sales of over 10 million units. Thanks to its portability and significantly lower price, Samsung’s foldable smartphone shipments reached 10 million units that year.
Samsung remains the giant in foldable phones, but its success has made the category feel a lot less isolated in recent years: Increased competition has not only improved the market and brought more device diversity, but also forced Samsung to rethink some of its traditions in the process.
The latest trend is the decision to widen the Fold’s narrow front screen a bit. It’s not a big difference. Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 Quite a difference was presented, but perhaps this is in response to feedback about the always unnatural aspect ratio.
A device like the Fold may be able to hold consumer interest for a few years on novelty alone, but attention spans in consumer electronics are short: the glow for early adopters fades after a few generations of improvements. Google’s Pixel Fold And that OnePlus Open Bring out new ideas.
But one of the most intriguing competitors came from an unexpected corner of the mobile industry. I’ll admit to underestimating Motorola’s foldable Razr when it was announced a few months after Samsung’s first Fold. It was a novelty in itself, a proprietary attempt to foist a beloved but outdated brand onto a new device. It felt like a cynical product of Hollywood’s reboot era.
The 2020 Razr’s reputation has been similar to that of the original Fold. It arrived halfwayThe specs don’t quite justify the $1,200 price tag. The folding mechanism itself There’s still room for improvement, and for a while it felt like the entire foldable category was under the radar.
So far, foldable devices have: Slowing smartphone salesBut the form factor has staying power. According to Counterpoint Research: Global foldable market grows by 49% Sales are expected to reach 20 million units in the first quarter of 2024, up from the same period in 2018. Huawei, an early entrant in the sector whose growth has been severely hampered by issues with the U.S. and other foreign governments, has had a strong quarter, overtaking Samsung for the first time.
meanwhile Huawei remains banned from selling in the USThe company saw a massive 257% year-over-year growth during the quarter. Shipments were primarily in Huawei’s home country of China, driven by the much-anticipated switch from LTE to 5G form factor. Fellow Chinese company Motorola saw strong growth globally, growing by an astounding 1,473%. Samsung saw a 42% quarterly decline, but maintained its number two position globally with 23% of the total market.
The Fold/Flip 6 and Motorola Razr+ are both too new to have a significant impact on quarterly shipments, but both are expected to see notable growth thanks to being highly reviewed devices.
Samsung’s biggest challenge now is figuring out how to keep the category exciting. Gaining market share is no longer just a matter of education. The company needs to convince non-foldable smartphone owners that now is the time to make the leap and entice existing customers to trade up. That’s a tall order, with the Fold and Flip currently priced starting at $1,900 and $1,100, respectively.
The Flip 6 beats the Razr+ in image processing, which has long been Samsung’s forte.
Motorola learned from its early mistakes and has delivered a great folding experience. The design is great, and the 3.6-inch front-facing display that stretches almost edge-to-edge looks great. But Motorola’s real secret weapon is the price.
While $1,000 doesn’t seem all that appealing at first glance, the device is constantly discounted — it went on sale earlier this week with a $100 discount, while the older model, due in 2023, can be bought on Amazon for $100. Now $600.
Meanwhile, Samsung is rumored to be working on a more affordable version of the Fold for release later this year, but the company I was vague about thatUnfortunately, Samsung is no longer the only option, and the next real innovation in foldable smartphones will likely be in affordability.
