Smartphone manufacturers still want to make foldables a thing
Smartphone manufacturers still want to make foldables a thing
Foldables are barely 1% of the market, but that's not stopping anyone but Apple.
Smartphone manufacturers still want to make foldables a thing::Foldables are barely 1% of the market, but that's not stopping anyone but Apple.
I've been daily driving a folding phone for about 3 years now, and honest to God I'll never buy a normal phone again. It's a laptop, tablet, phone, and notepad (stylus) all in one. I couldn't imagine going back.
Also, being able to open two full screen apps side by side becomes essential after you start to rely on it for work.
I get that they are expensive, but the price will come down eventually and the form factor is game changing from a usability perspective.
I'm on a Fold 4, never going back. There are certainly a few tweaks here and there that could improve it, but a tablet that you put back in your pocket when you are done is the perfect phone so far. I don't know what they would have to do to make something better than this, but I'm sure something will come along. Until then, not going back to a phone that can only be bar shaped.
I think foldables have found a niche market at the moment. People buy them, just not in the quantities the companies might want.
The main reasons for this are Samsung being stagnant on its innovation with foldables (Z flip 5 notwithstanding), much of the competition being limited to China only or aren't being marketed at all, and the book style foldables all being overpriced (they still MSRP for $1700-$1800 plus 1000% storage markups, they should be aiming for a $1200-$1300 MSRP).
Here in the US, we have:
The usual Samsung foldables: The Z flip 5 which is a great device at on okay price, and I've seen a few of these (or the previous gens), notable because 85% of the devices I see are iPhones. The Z Fold 5 is stagnant and overpriced.
Pixel Fold: Hahahahaha it can't even last a week before the screen dies lol lol haha
Moto Razr Flip 40 and its variations: Nobody knows that these phones exist, and the ones who do struggle to even find a place to buy the phone. On Amazon listing for the US version is blended with the international listings and is often out of stock, and Motorola's website gives me an error when I try to get to the buying process on its phones. Also there's like 3 different versions of this phone Real shame, because they are good phones for a great price if you can stomach the poor battery life.
OnePlus Open: Possibly the most innovative phone of 2023, this phone 1-ups the Z Fold line in nearly every way, although it's still pricey. But again, basically nobody has even heard of this brand, much less this phone. They just believe Samsung is the only one that makes foldables while they choose to buy the latest iPhone.
This article seems to only talk about the ones that fold like a book, and not on the ones that fold like a clam. I don't get the fixtation on that design - at this point it's more of a tablet than a phone, and for a tablet it's pretty small. When opened, the Samsung Z Flip has the dimensions of a smartphone - which means you can put it to your ear or operate it with one hand. You can't do that with the Z Fold - it's too wide. Also, the Samsung Z Flip costs half as much as the Z Fold - which is still not cheap, but it's not that much more expensive than Samsung's regular flagship phone with the same specs. So I assume affordable flip smartphones should be possible - maybe not this year, but probably soon enough.
Z Flips sell twice as much as Z Folds - all while Samsung is spending most of the marketing effort on pushing the Fold. Maybe if they focused on the Flip instead they could have made this one "a thing"?
Anyone who is interested in a foldable. Check eBay or Swappa. I was really surprised to find them 2nd hand for like 600-800. Which is crazy considering how much they sell for new.
I love the idea of big screen foldables. They are just way too expensive for me to justify. I've used the one plus open and man I really wish I could afford it. I do a lot of my mobile computing on my phone instead of a laptop and the foldables make it much more enjoyable.
They’ll catch on and become highly desirable approximately 1 minute after Apple makes one.
I loved my z fold 3. Took too many falls and the inside screen had it. Would happily get another if they weren't so expensive.
My current phone is now well over two years old, and is desperately NOT in need of an upgrade. I can't imagine replacing it with anything but a book style foldable. Anything else just wouldn't feel like an upgrade. I'm just waiting for the prices to get sensible.
I love my foldable, but I got lucky and thats why I was able to buy it. They are way too expensive and my fucken singer in my highschool band showed me a bendable screen way back then like 10 years ago. Shit is supposed to get cheaper, thats what keeps this death machine running.
In a few years apple will release one, act like they invented it. The fanboys will pay whatever price apple is selling it for and foldables will be mainstream.
Apple products aren't that good but their marketing is second to none.
Saw this on mastodon yesterday and it got me to thinking... Does anyone know of a dual-screen phone (not the foldable style discussed here) that has something smaller like 4" screens? The only models I found had either a 2.5" or 6" screen, neither of which would work for me. I prefer something that can fit in my pocket and a dual screen might be a nice solution for me since a keyboard in landscape mode takes up so much of the screen.
My main concern is durability. The inner screen is way too fragile to be used without giving it any thought. Until durability is addressed to a sufficient extent that the device hardware can outlast its software support with everyday use, I prefer to stay in candy bar phones without my tablet in tow.
Look at the prices. They probably have massive margins. Don't need much market share.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Foldables, which have a screen that opens like a book or compact mirror, barely exceed a 1 per cent market share of all smartphones sold globally almost five years after they were first introduced.
“We will continue to position our foldables as a key engine for our flagship growth with the clear differentiation, experience and flexibility these devices have to offer,” said Samsung.
Other handset makers such as Motorola, China’s Huawei and its spin-off Honor are also pinning their hopes on the product helping to revive a market that suffered its worst year for more than a decade.
Every other big smartphone maker has followed Samsung into the market, including Google’s Pixel Fold and Chinese alternatives from Huawei, Oppo and Xiaomi.
“We believe foldables are the future of smartphone devices, just like electric cars were to the auto industry,” said Bond Zhang, UK chief executive of Honor.
Counterpoint Research estimates about 16 million foldable phones will be sold this year, just 1.3 per cent of the 1.2 billion smartphone market total.
The original article contains 357 words, the summary contains 171 words. Saved 52%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
This is what puts me off.
Runar Bjørhovde, an analyst at Canalys, said return rates of foldables are 5-10 percent, far higher than traditional smartphones and a deterrent to repeat purchases.
A phone costing me four digits with that high a return rate. Nope.
I know we're supposed to be talking shit about foldables but I'd rather remark on how badly I want a rollable phone
The idea is great but without devs focusing on making good use of it... Smells like 3D TVs to me
I feel like the percentage of the market that wears button down shirts but also needs a smart phone for business, that is also small enough to close the flap so the phone doesn't fall in cow shit or go up the grain auger, is comparatively small. It's really annoying they haven't changed those pockets from cigarette pack size to smart phone size.
I hope all these big companies pump billions into this tech and lose it all.
looks like shit.
Fetch.