India is a very important strategic market that is leading the way for popularisation of foldables and it will play a critical role in Samsung’s recovery and success in the second half of 2023, TM Roh, president and head of MX Business at Samsung Electronics told FE on the sidelines of Unpacked in Seoul.
Galaxy products already account for 35 percent share in the super-premium (products that are priced at $1000 or higher) segment in India, he said, and with the newly-launched Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5, the company is looking to capture over 50 percent of the market. The confidence comes from India’s high sensitivity for technological innovation and the rapidly rising demand for high-end premium products in the world’s fastest growing mobile market.
Roh asserted that with cumulative sales of foldables expected to top 30 million units globally this year, 2023 will be a “tipping point” wherein foldables will become [more] mainstream as a category. In the next few years, he expects foldable sales to top 100 million units a year, eventually expanding into other categories like tablets and personal computers.
Challenging the status quo
Launched in 2019, the first wave of Samsung foldables set out to re-imagine the mobile phone as we know it, and even though there were some concerns along the way, “seeing how there are other foldable products being launched in the market today,” Roh believes that “our conviction that foldables will be an important player in the premium mobile market [and not a product only for the niche market] has been proven true.”
Citing the example of the large screen smartphone, once called the “phablet”, and how the Note-series single-handedly created a category and fan-base of its own, Roh reiterated that Samsung Electronics has worked towards building new usability and innovations from time to time.
Also Read | Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5, Galaxy Z Flip 5 first impressions: Sealing the deal
“If we had stuck to the existing 3.5-inch display all this time, then we would not have been able to enjoy the kind of usability that we enjoy today and provide the kind of experience that the consumers want,” Roh said, adding that “I am proud that we were able to create an environment where the consumers can get all the information that they want easily on a large screen and also all the experience that they want.”
Specifically, for foldables, Roh is proud not only for creating a new category –yet again—but that Samsung continues to develop it with the intent that it would become more commonplace someday. At the same time, the company hopes that more consumers will use “this very good product so it could spread much more quickly than it has done [so far].”
The new normal
Internally, Samsung is working on a two-pronged approach to push for greater mass adoption of foldables. One is to keep improving on the performance and the quality of these devices even as it continues to innovate on the form factor itself. The second is to make them “as affordable as possible”.
When asked about a potential Galaxy Fold/Flip Fan Edition and a tentative timeline of launch, Roh declined to get into the details but said that Samsung “is working very hard [internally] and with strategic parts suppliers [to make foldables more affordable], adding that “since we are currently working on future technologies, it is difficult to specify the timing of when such solutions will be made available. But when the time comes, then we will unveil more affordable foldable[s] as well.”
Roh stressed that Samsung wants to make it easier for the consumers everywhere, including in India, to purchase its foldables, through sales programs and services like Samsung Finance+ and it will continue to work on that front, not only by itself, but along with its partners. And it works both ways.
Also Read | Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5, Flip 5 quick review: Closing the gap
“If more consumers in India were to use our Fold and Flip and provide us with better ideas [on how to make them better], we will incorporate them into future devices and [this] will drive further innovation,” Roh said, adding that “we have been listening to the voices of our customers, and it is the voices of the customers that we intend to keep reflecting into our next product.”
For the second half of the year, Samsung wants to be “at least on par with the pace of market recovery” and to meet that goal, “the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Flip 5 will have to show very good performance [in sales].”
The Fold 5 and Flip 5 may seem familiar but they’re easily the most comprehensive update to the line-up since the very origin of the line-up. At their heart is Samsung’s brand-new Flex hinge which folds the screen internally in the shape of a tear-drop which makes both the Fold 5 and Flip 5 fold completely flat without any gap. The Flip 5 is also getting a cover screen upgrade and comes with a larger 3.4-inch Flex Window opening up new possibilities and use-cases than ever before. The Fold 5 price in India starts at Rs 1,54,999. The Flip 5 starts at Rs 99,999.
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