A few years ago it was still an absolute niche market, but Samsung is expecting a breakthrough in the market for foldable smartphones very soon. The South Korean manufacturer is presenting new models this week.
Samsung sees foldable smartphones arriving in the mass market and wants to sell around 500,000 such devices this year in Germany alone. “This is a milestone for us,” said Samsung manager Mario Winter of the German Press Agency. Last year, Samsung only sold 180,000 folding smartphones in this country. According to market researchers, around 21.5 million smartphones were sold in Germany in 2021.
The smartphone market leader from South Korea has been trying to establish the product category on the market practically single-handedly for several years. The Huawei group, which presented its first foldable smartphone at almost the same time as Samsung, is paralyzed by US sanctions. Chinese suppliers such as Oppo and Xiaomi also developed such devices, but only sell them to a very limited extent.
Samsung relies on two variants of folding smartphones. The cheaper Galaxy Flip model is compact and can be opened to the size of a smartphone. The Galaxy Fold, on the other hand, is the size of a small tablet when unfolded. According to media reports, new flip and fold versions are expected from a Samsung event on Wednesday.
The smartphone market as a whole is weakening, among other things, in view of the high inflation and economic concerns. However, Samsung and Apple, as the two largest providers, were able to detach themselves from the general trend in the past quarter and increase sales of their phones.
In Germany, in particular, there has been an increase in the more expensive premium smartphones, emphasized Winter. Sales via mobile phone providers and upgrades via the purchase of previous devices by manufacturers are of great importance. According to surveys, around every third consumer in Germany is now familiar with the Samsung range of foldable smartphones. “We can now build on that.”
