I don’t usually get requested concerning the telephones I’m testing after I’m out and about, until it’s a folding cellphone. Then I normally hear some model of the identical factor: “Oh, I considered getting a type of! However then I simply received a [insert slab-style phone name here].” My anecdotal information matches the precise gross sales figures; there are numerous extra folks interested by folding telephones than there are buyers of folding phones. Samsung would very very similar to that to not be the case, and, by all indications, it’s about to drag out all of the stops at at its Unpacked event on July ninth. However is placing the Extremely identify on a folding cellphone sufficient?
The weak gross sales are usually not for lack of attempting — Samsung has been attempting to promote us on foldables for a good chunk of the last decade, and Google also got in the game 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 percent 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 Ultra-branded Fold for the primary time, with a thinner profile to rival the current efforts from Honor and Oppo. The Z Flip 7 is more likely to get a bigger, Razr-style screen that covers a lot of the entrance panel, and we’d see a cheaper FE version with the outdated cowl display screen design. That each one appears to deal with a few widespread complaints about foldables: they’re too expensive and include too many tradeoffs in comparison with a slab-style cellphone.
I’m not fairly positive it’ll be sufficient, although. Foldables stay extra vulnerable to wreck from mud than an ordinary flagship cellphone — and repairs will 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 completely 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 form of a giant ask, particularly with costs on all the pieces else we purchase going up, too.
It’s not all doom and gloom for foldables, nevertheless. Analysts are placing loads of inventory in rumors of a folding phone from Apple coming in 2026. An iFold or no matter it is likely to be referred to as may assist develop the market, a minimum of within the US, and possibly that rising tide would float Samsung’s boat, too. Possibly a few new fashions hitting totally different value segments is sufficient to get Samsung’s marketshare rising once more — a technique that has worked well for the company prior 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, effectively, Samsung might just have that covered, too.
Pictures by Allison Johnson / The Verge