The price of smartphones with a folding screen is still very high. But Samsung reportedly intends to present an affordable model in 2024. The price would be less than 1 million won, or around 740 euros. The smartphone could even integrate the manufacturer’s mid-range Galaxy A offer. The goal is to get a head start on the competition.
It’s almost a monopoly situation. Samsung holds 90% of the global folding smartphone market. Only problem: this market is still extremely weak. But it grows every year. And forecasts suggest that this will increase very rapidly in the coming years. How ? By lowering the price of course. Today, a folding smartphone costs at least 1200 euros (this is the price of the Galaxy Z Flip 3 when it was launched).
Also read – OnePlus would soon launch its first foldable smartphone, it would be close to Oppo’s Find N
Korean online daily ETNews published an article claiming that Samsung is developing a folding smartphone that will be priced much lower than today’s Z line. The target price is 1 million won, or less than 740 euros according to the current price. This corresponds to a 25% drop compared to the Korean price of the Galaxy Z Flip 3 (and 50% compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 3). In France, the phone would therefore be sold between 900 and 1000 euros (if we apply these percentages to the prices charged in France).
Samsung would release an affordable folding smartphone in 2024
The drop would be so strong that Samsung would even consider integrating this smartphone into the Galaxy A range. It would not be very surprising, insofar as the Galaxy A are lightened Galaxy S (as much in performance, functions as materials). Indeed, according to ETNews, this future affordable folding smartphone would be deprived of some functions available in high-end models. No example is cited, but we are thinking in particular of fast charging, the 120 Hz refresh rate or the external screen.
Latest information from the Korean media, the launch date. Samsung would aim for a commercial launch in 2024. Or in two years. Why such a delay when folding smartphones already exist? Because those two would allow Samsung to create a cheaper folding screen and recoup R&D costs on the hinge, for example. However, even if it seems like an interminable delay, it is likely that Samsung will still be the first to launch an “affordable” folding smartphone. And as we say in telephony: “first come, first served”.
Source : ETNews
