I don’t typically get requested in regards to the telephones I’m testing after I’m out and about, except it’s a folding cellphone. Then I often hear some model of the identical factor: “Oh, I thought of getting a type of! However then I simply bought a [insert slab-style phone name here].” My anecdotal knowledge matches the precise gross sales figures; there are a lot of extra individuals inquisitive about folding telephones than there are consumers of folding telephones. Samsung would very very like that to not be the case, and, by all indications, it’s about to tug out all of the stops at at its Unpacked occasion on July ninth. However is placing the Extremely identify on a folding cellphone sufficient?
The weak gross sales aren’t for lack of making an attempt — Samsung has been making an attempt to promote us on foldables for a very good chunk of the final decade, and Google additionally bought within the recreation a few years in the past. Motorola has had substantial success promoting clamshell-style flip telephones; Counterpoint Analysis discovered that the model’s foldable market share grew 253 p.c year-over-year in 2024. However that’s an even bigger piece of a really small pie. TrendForce estimated that foldables made up simply 1.5 p.c of the general smartphone market in 2024. Within the US, Samsung was the earliest and loudest folding cellphone maker, however a half dozen iterations of folding telephones hasn’t managed to make a big dent.
The corporate has all however confirmed that we’ll get an Extremely-branded Fold for the primary time, with a thinner profile to rival the current efforts from Honor and Oppo. The Z Flip 7 is prone to get an even bigger, Razr-style display screen that covers a lot of the entrance panel, and we would see a less expensive FE model with the outdated cowl display screen design. That every one appears to handle a few frequent complaints about foldables: they’re too expensive and include too many tradeoffs in comparison with a slab-style cellphone.
I’m not fairly certain it’ll be sufficient, although. Foldables stay extra prone to break from mud than a normal flagship cellphone — and repairs might be pricier. Regardless of saying years in the past that it’s pursuing full dustproofing, Samsung doesn’t appear to have cracked the code on a totally IP68-rated foldable simply but. Taking an opportunity on an costly cellphone that’s much less sturdy than your typical $1,000 flagship? That’s sort of a giant ask, particularly with costs on every little thing else we purchase going up, too.
It’s not all doom and gloom for foldables, nonetheless. Analysts are placing a variety of inventory in rumors of a folding cellphone from Apple coming in 2026. An iFold or no matter it is likely to be referred to as may assist develop the market, at the least within the US, and possibly that rising tide would float Samsung’s boat, too. Possibly a few new fashions hitting totally different worth segments is sufficient to get Samsung’s marketshare rising once more — a technique that has labored properly for the corporate up to now. Possibly an Extremely foldable with extremely specs will persuade some individuals who had been on the fence about folding telephones. And if anybody was holding out for an additional hinge, properly, Samsung would possibly simply have that lined, too.
Images by Allison Johnson / The Verge
