Considering roughly 80% of all foldable smartphone sales presently going to Samsung, it’s evident that the South Korean company will have to work harder to maintain that position as competition heats up and there are whispers that Apple may eventually introduce a bending phone as well. Cheaper foldable phones would be one method to do this, and it appears that Samsung is currently working on this.
Although Samsung has now lowered the price to $1,800 for the Fold, which debuted in 2019, the company’s book-like bending phone is still out of reach for the majority of users.
Similar to the Z Flip, which has decreased in price from $1,380 to $1,000 while remaining in the high-end category.
There were claims that Samsung might release a simplified version of the Galaxy Fold between 2020 and 2021. This month, a leaker said that inexpensive Samsung phones were back on the table but gave the impression that they would be a member of the Galaxy A range rather than the Z family of foldable phones, reigniting the speculations.
Samsung Galaxy A Fold and Flip
Korean news site ET News, which has a rather reliable track record when it comes to leaks, has confirmed that rumour. According to the article, Samsung is developing a budget-friendly foldable smartphone that will cost less than 1 million won ($771).
We may presume that the phone will retail for more than $800 because taxes and customs will probably make it more expensive in other countries. This largely corresponds to prior reports that the Galaxy Fold Lite would have a starting price of $900.
According to the source, Samsung would scrimp on luxury features and limit the Galaxy A foldable selection to only the essentials. Previous rumours said that the business’s reasonably priced flexible phones will not include the Ultra-Thin Glass layer seen on the finest foldable phones from Samsung.
Additionally, according to the rumour, Samsung will provide reasonably priced variations of the Galaxy Z Fold and Galaxy Z Flip. The corporation is targeting a 2024 release date for the project, which is now in the design and development stage.
Samsung appears to aim to boost the sales share of its foldable form factor from a single-digit to a double-digit percentage within its total range in addition to making its foldable phones more competitive. The strongest indication that is placing a lot of money on this form factor is the fact that it no longer produces the recognisable Galaxy Note smartphones.
Galaxy A smartphones are already a significant contributor to sales, and they recently outperformed the high-end S series devices.
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