Samsung Just Made An Outrageous Claim About The Future Of Foldable Phones
Having pioneered the first mass-market foldable smartphone in 2019, Samsung continues to dominate the space with more than 62% of the market. Samsung's hold on foldables is evident from the fact that 2021 alone saw the company ship more than 10 million foldable phones. Interestingly, while the Galaxy Z Fold lineup continues to be Samsung's flagship offering, the more affordable Galaxy Z Flip devices have been the driving force behind Samsung's impressive shipment numbers (via Counterpoint Research). The Flip's compact form factor and the relatively affordable price tag seem to have done the trick for the Korean smartphone major.
Thanks to the rising popularity of its foldable smartphones, senior Samsung officials are confident about the segment continuing to be on a growth trajectory. At a press conference during the recent launch of the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and the Flip 4, Samsung Electronics mobile head Roh Tae-moon claimed that the company expects the foldable space to grow exponentially in the next couple of years. In fact, he believes Samsung's premium foldable smartphone lineup will eventually account for over 50% of Samsung's premium smartphone shipments.
Foldable smartphones are the future
Samsung's expectations for its foldable lineup seem to be buoyed by the fact that the company was able to target an entirely new category of consumers with its foldable phones. This move eventually helped the company cater to a wider category of consumers willing to spend a sizable amount of money on devices that stand out from the current crop of candybar-style smartphones.
Tae-moon believes that the popularity of Samsung's foldable lineup will continue to rise as the entire foldable space evolves over the next couple of years (via Counterpoint Research). In fact, by 2025, Samsung expects the combined shipments of its foldable lineup to exceed the shipment figures of the entire Galaxy S series lineup. A large chunk of this growth could come from affordable foldable models from Samsung, given that the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip alone accounted for 52% of the foldable smartphone market in 2021.
Interestingly, the surge in shipment figures for Samsung's foldable lineup comes when the company's existing Galaxy S series has been witnessing sluggish growth. Over the past few years, Samsung has been losing ground to Apple in the premium smartphone segment. The surge of foldable purchases could help Samsung arrest the gradual slide.
Interestingly, while Samsung appears to be very bullish about the growth prospects of foldables, they were unsure about the future of these devices until a few months ago. Back then, Samsung did not expect the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 and the Galaxy Z Flip 5 to fare well. We wonder what changed in the span of a few months?