There's always a mad rush from loyalists and otherwise interested customers when a new device comes out. We see this early on every year when new Samsung flagships are unveiled and later in the year when the company comes out with its new foldable devices. As its foldable lineups go from strength to strength, the excitement and demand for new Galaxy Z Flip and Galaxy Z Fold devices is increasing with every iteration.
It's not uncommon for the company to sell several million units of the new devices within the first few weeks. A couple of millions are sold in its home country of South Korea alone, with the other big chunk of sales coming from key markets across North America, Asia, and the Middle East. However, once that initial rush dies down, the company has to keep the momentum going, and we've seen it employ different strategies from time to time for nudging sales along.
Often it's through exclusive deals on Galaxy phones, online-exclusive color options, and partnerships with carriers. In South Korea, Samsung's carrier partners have increased the subsidies they're offering on the new foldables to drum up more sales. Evidently, there are many proverbial cats in the bag that Samsung can pull out, but the one it has recently extracted has all the markings of a great strategy, one that should be expanded across markets.
Ahead of the 2024 NFL season kicking off in the first week of September, Samsung announced the launch of exciting new NFL Galaxy Z Flip 6 Flipsuit Cases. The $79.99 Flipsuit Case is a silicon case for the Galaxy Z Flip 6 that can hold an NFC card at the back. When this NFC card comes into contact with the device, the phone will download unique graphics and themes for the cover display and the One UI interface.
The Flipsuit Case has been around for multiple iterations of the Galaxy Z Flip but this is the first time that we're seeing Samsung launch a lineup of cases targeting fans of one of the most lucrative sports leagues in the world, granted, that world has to be limited to much of North America because everywhere else football is “football”, the kind where players hit a ball with their feet.
Samsung has released Flipsuit Cases for some of the leading NFL teams, including but not limited to the reigning champions Kansas City Chiefs, last year's runner up San Francisco 49ers, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, and more. The entire roster isn't covered, but the nearly dozen or so teams it has made cases that cover tens of millions of fans.
NFL fans are serious about buying merchandise that shows their support for the team. The league is a merchandising powerhouse, selling over $4 billion in merchandise every single year. The vast majority of fans spend up to $250 per year on merchandise and some even spend in excess of $1,000 in a year!
These sports fans are happy to spend money and show their love for the teams they follow. The Galaxy Z Flip 6 Flipsuit Case is just another way for them to convey that pride. There's no other mainstream smartphone manufacturer that offers the kind of experience that Samsung has enabled with the Flipsuit Case, so it just might become reason enough for fans to consider buying the new foldable, not just because of its unique form factor, beautiful design or top-notch specs, but also because it's another way for them to show off that team spirit.
Samsung sees enough potential demand for this idea in the United States, where it faces fierce competition from the iPhone, that it went ahead and created Flipsuit Cases for NFL teams. Now imagine if this idea was extrapolated in other parts of the world where Android has a much stronger foothold for other sports. One can imagine there would be many takers for Indian Premier League Flip Suit Cases in cricket-frenzied India, or for one of many football clubs in the European leagues, national football teams, driver-specific Flipsuit Cases for Formula 1 fans, etc. The possibilities are endless.
So much of Samsung's messaging lately has been about users relying on its devices as tools for personal expression. If anything, sports fans tend to be a bit too expressive, so the Flipsuit Case strategy is great at capturing their attention and presenting them with a device that lets them fly that team flag in more ways than one.
