When Samsung launched its first foldable phone, the Galaxy Fold, it was a revolutionary device with groundbreaking technologies and a $2,000 price tag. It was expected that the price of foldable phones would drop as components get easier to make. However, Samsung says it has no plans to launch cheaper foldable phones.
You should give up on cheaper Galaxy Z Fold
It has been repeatedly rumored that Samsung will launch a cheaper Galaxy Z Fold series of foldable phones. However, the South Korean firm doesn't have any such plans. Instead, it intends to keep the price tag intact and introduce newer and better technologies, similar to what it did with the recently launched Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition.
A Samsung Electronics official said, “Rather than considering it (Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition) a premium product, it’s a product released to expand your options. You can choose according to your taste. As of now, we have no plans to release a separate product with a lower price.”
Samsung has fallen behind in the foldable smartphone race. Once the leading firm in global foldable smartphone sales, it has now dropped to second place behind Huawei. Sales of Samsung's foldable smartphones have stagnated over the past couple of years. There are two ways to increase sales. The company either needs to bring killer apps optimized for foldable phones or launch cheaper foldable phones, and Samsung has not managed to achieve either.
Watch the video below to learn more about Samsung's most advanced foldable phone yet, the Galaxy Z Fold Special Edition.
Foldable smartphones from Chinese firms like Honor, Huawei, OPPO, and Vivo are thinner, lighter, and have better camera hardware than Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold phones. So, Samsung needs to justify the pricing of Galaxy Z Fold phones by improving its engineering and adding better specs to its devices.
Some rumors claim that Samsung plans to launch a cheaper Galaxy Z Flip phone next year alongside a Galaxy Z Fold device and its first dual-fold (some call it tri-fold) smartphone. It remains to be seen if the company manages to do that. Otherwise, it risks getting beaten in the foldable smartphone segment which it popularized.